Justifies the Beans
by angellwings
Summary: JONAS. Not long into the movie Macy felt her eyelids droop. No! She was not going to fall asleep. This movie actually seemed interesting. There was action and fairy tales! But she kept dozing off. She blamed Stella's movie... Kacy, Joella, and Nick/Amy
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **This story is partly inspired by "Into the Woods" a WONDERFUL Stephen Sondheim musical. I borrowed the idea that Rapunzel and Cinderella's princes are brothers AND the idea of combining fairy tales. I also use quotes from Sondheim's brilliant music at the beginning of each chapter. ENJOY! :)

* * *

**Justifies the Beans**

By angellwings

* * *

CHAPTER ONE

"_This is ridiculous. What am I doing here? I'm in the wrong story!" _

–_Into the Woods, Act II, "Moments in the Woods"

* * *

_

Macy popped her knuckles and yawned. She tried to pay attention to the movie. She really did, but it was just so boring. She was a girl, sure. And she liked romantic things, but epic love stories with only drama and tears were not her thing. She preferred action, adventure, and one liners with lots of romantic tension thrown in.

But Stella had picked _this_.

And, worse still, the guys let her.

She had no doubt they regretted it now. Stella seemed to be enjoying it. Macy didn't know if she was completely focused on it though. She seemed distracted. Macy popped another knuckle.

"All right!" Stella yelled suddenly as she paused the movie. "I get it. You hate this movie."

Macy stared down at her hands and winced. "Oops. I'm sorry, Stella, but…this girl's been sobbing for the past hour and a half. Look, I'll just go into the other room and—"

"It's not just you Macy," Stella said with a small smile before she glared at the Lucas brothers. "Kevin's not even pretending to pay attention anymore. He's been doing a crossword puzzle for the last hour. Nick's been writing songs. And Joe," Stella said as she elbowed him. "Is asleep!"

"Ow!" Joe cried as he suddenly sat back up. "Is the movie over?"

Macy looked around the room and chuckled when she realized Stella was right.

"What's a 7 letter title for an insanely boring love story?" Kevin asked the group. Macy laughed before tossing Stella an apologetic glance.

"The good news is, I think I've almost finished this song," Nick told them as he glanced at the sheet music. "The bad news is…it's as sappy and depressing as this movie."

Stella rolled her eyes, and sighed. "Fine, pick out something else."

Joe, Kevin, and Nick rushed their collection of DVDs all at once. Stella laughed lightly and shook her head. She was surprised they'd let her make it that far into that movie. Kevin emerged victoriously first.

"Got it!"

"What is it?" Macy asked.

"The Brothers Grimm."

"Oh yeah," Joe said with a nod. "The non-girly fairy tale movie. I can work with that."

"Works for me," Nick shrugged.

Kevin put in the movie and then came back to sit beside of Macy on the couch. Not long into the movie Macy felt her eyelids droop. No! She was not going to fall asleep. This movie actually seemed interesting. There was action and fairy tales! But she kept dozing off. She blamed Stella's movie for making her feel lethargic and bored. As she fell asleep she was vaguely aware that her head landed on something solid.

* * *

"Macy!" A voice called from another room.

Macy's eyes snapped open and she glanced around her cottage. She frantically stood and dressed. Today she was supposed to be working in the garden so she'd worn her work dress. The one with fraying around the collar and sleeves and patches on the skirt. She pulled her hair up into a scarf to keep it off of her neck. The last thing she needed while she worked outside was a sticky neck. She hated it when the sweat made her hair stick to her neck.

She made it to the main room just as her mother was about to call for her again.

"Oh! There you are!" Macy's mother said brightly. "I need you to take Ellie to the market today."

"Th-the market? But you can't mean—we're selling her?" Macy asked in outrage. "But mother—"

"Macy, she's not giving us any milk. And she's severely underfed. If we don't sell her now she won't be worth anything to anyone," Mrs. Misa told her gently. "I know you like Ellie, but she's an old cow and it's time that we say goodbye. Now, please, go fetch her and head into town. I've packed you a basket with lunch in it to take with you."

Macy slowly trekked out to their tiny poorly constructed barn. She fixed the rope around the milky white cow's neck, and spoke gently to her as she led her back toward the house.

"I'm sorry, Ellie," Macy said as she paused to pet the cow. "If it were up to me, I'd keep you with us for as long as I could, but it's not. And Mother is right. We need the money, and we can't really afford to keep you fed with out getting any milk from you. It's practical. You know what, Ellie? One day, very soon, I'll be rich. I'll have lots of land, and a huge barn, and a garden the size of old Mr. Tabor's. And when that happens, I'll find you and buy you back."

If you're still alive, Macy thought. Hopefully she would strike it rich before someone turned Ellie into steak. Macy stopped by the house to tell her mother she was leaving and grab her lunch basket.

"Good luck, dear!" Mrs. Misa called as she watched her daughter go. To herself she said, "Be practical. You have to grow up sometime, Macy."

Mrs. Misa was very proud of her daughter. She was a hard worker, and very brave. But she lived in a world of day dreams. She had goals that crossed the boundaries of her station in life, and Mrs. Misa often worried that her daughter would never be truly happy.

* * *

"Where are you going?" Joe asked his brothers as they all headed down the castle stairs.

"I'm getting out of here," Kevin told him. "All these ball preparations are driving me insane. We've never had this many visiting royals staying at the palace before and I can't take it. Don't you get tired of princesses throwing themselves at you?"

Joe laughed. "No, should I?"

Nick rolled his eyes. "I do. All these girls are the same. They're beautiful but not very complicated. There's got to be someone out there who's both interesting and attractive."

"You _both_ can't leave!" Joe yelled. "Then I'll be stuck here."

Kevin quirked an eyebrow at his brother. "Stuck? I was under the impression you loved it here with all these girls begging for your attention?"

Joe sighed. "Okay, fine. It's a little boring. Just once I'd like to have to _work_ to get a girl."

"How are we going to get out of here again?" Nick asked his oldest brother. "The guards know we're not supposed to leave unless it's on official festival business."

Kevin shook his head. "No, they know the princes aren't supposed to leave, but we're not leaving as princes."

"I'm going to be stuck here covering for you two, aren't I?" Joe asked knowingly. He was used to covering for Kevin, but not Nick. "What are you two going to be doing all day anyway?"

"Exploring," Nick told him. "We'll be Kevin's advisors someday, right? How can I advise him to govern a land that I've never truly seen?"

"You're just going to be wandering around the countryside. Alone?"

"I'll be fine, Joe. We've been trained in every form of combat known to man, remember?" Nick told him.

"And what about you?" Joe asked as he turned to Kevin. "Where will you be?"

"I will be mingling with my people. If I'm going to be their king someday I need to know what they're like. Their wants, their struggles, their needs."

"Wow, you've both thought up practical and rational reasons for ditching the ball preperations. I'm impressed," Joe said with a shake of his head. "Well, have fun. And remember, you both owe me. A lot."

Kevin grinned and patted Joe's shoulder. "Don't worry, we'll be back in time for the ball."

Nick agreed. "Say hello to Stella for us."

* * *

Joe slammed the door behind him as he muttered angrily to himself. Stella looked up from the queen's dress and smirked at him.

"Well, hello to you too, Joe."

He paused his pacing and stopped to give her a small smile. "Hello."

"Something wrong?"

"My brothers ran off and left me to cover for them with our parents."

Stella's hand stopped stitching across the fabric. "Are they coming back?"

"They _said_ they'd be back before the ball, but the last time Kevin went out into the village he was gone for two days. He _worked_. Outside. He came back with a tan and dirt under his nails," Joe ranted. Stella held back a chuckle at how ridiculous Joe made that sound. "He said he ran into a couple of farmers who lost all of their crops and needed to completely replant their entire field, and that he couldn't refuse to help them. So who knows when he'll be back. And Nick? Nick's never been in the village without a member of the guard with him. Never. I should have stopped them. I should have put my foot down, but no. I couldn't do that. Why am I such a coward?"

Stella smiled softly at him. "You're not a coward. You just want your brothers to be happy. That's a good thing."

"My parents won't see it that way."

"They just worry, that's all. You're not a normal family, you know. You're royals. Meaning there are lots of people who would like to get their hands on you. For their own gain. Your parents just want to protect you from that," Stella told him. "Please tell me they at least went out in normal clothes?"

"Kevin knows not to go out alone in royal garb," Joe told her. "The whole point of him going out was to get away from being royal."

"Good. It's muddy out today, and the last thing I want to do this week is to try and work mud out of velvet," Stella told him as she returned to her dress.

"That's all that you're worried about? Getting mud out of velvet?" Joe asked with a grin. "You're not worried about my brothers, say, staying alive?"

"Joe, you may be royals, but you're not helpless. You're more trained than _most_ of the knights in your father's court. They'll be fine," Stella assured him.

"I guess you're right," He sighed. He finally sat down in the chair next to her. "Are you coming to the ball tonight?"

"I can't," She told him with a sigh. She wanted to, but she couldn't.

"Why not? It's open to the entire village."

"My aunt doesn't think it's a good idea."

Joe's brow furrowed. "Why does it matter what your aunt thinks?"

"Because she gives me free room and board. That's why."

"Free room and board? I thought the court seamstress lived here in the castle?"

"The court seamstress _used_ to live in the castle. I got passed over for the court accountant," Stella told him with a sigh.

"The court accountant? That's ridiculous! You're here more than he is! I'm going to have to talk to Father about this. You should have that room."

Stella rolled her eyes. "Really, Joe. It's not important. Don't make such a fuss—"

"It is important! If you lived here, you could come to the ball and then I wouldn't be impossibly bored all night long," he huffed.

"Bored? With all the pretty court girls that are going to be giggling and batting their eyelashes at you? How can you be bored?" Stella asked with a smirk.

"Because that's _all_ they do. Giggle and blink. Giggle and blink. I'm glad they think I'm attractive, but what good are they if they can't even carry on a conversation?" Joe told her in frustration. "I'd much rather have you there than _any_ of the members of court."

Stella tried her best to stop her blush. A wave of relief washed over her. He preferred her to the girls at court. That was quite possibly the sweetest—

"When you're there it's like talking to one of my brothers."

She instantly deflated. One of his brothers? Did she _look_ like a boy to him?

"Gee, thanks," Stella said sarcastically with a sigh.

"What?" He asked when heard her tone. "What did I say? I know I said something because you've got that _look_."

She stood from her chair and put the dress away. "I'm not one of your brothers, Joe. I'm a girl. You know, a female? I wear dresses and enjoy fashion a little too much. Not to mention I worry that my cheeks aren't rosey enough constantly and I _hate_ how tan I am. And finally, I think men, specifically royal men, know absolutely nothing about how to talk to a woman."

He stared at her with wide eyes.

"Does that sound like one of your brothers to you? Does it?"

"N-no, I guess not."

"Now, if you'll excuse me, your Highness, your youngest brother is on his way here for his fitting right now, and I need to get to work."

He reached out and grabbed her hand to keep her from turning away from him. "Stella, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you. I just—I wish more people could talk to me the way you do. That's all."

The doors to the wardrobe room opened suddenly.

"Oh, gross. Mushy stuff."

Joe immediately dropped Stella's hand at the sound of his little brother's voice. Stella sighed and turned to the youngest prince.

"I know the queen taught you how to knock."

"I'm a prince, I don't need to knock."

Joe laughed. "I'd like to you hear you say that to Mother."

* * *

Magic. The man had said they were magic. He said they would grow faster than anything she would ever plant in her life. That would mean food. Lots of food. Her garden would be the most interesting one in the village. So Macy had traded him Ellie for the beans. She thought she'd made a good deal.

But her mother wasn't impressed.

Macy had never been yelled at. She'd been scolded, sure. Most of the time for climbing too high in a tree or for scaling the castle walls in an attempt to get a look at their breathtaking garden, but she'd never been _yelled_ at. Until tonight.

She'd never seen her mother so angry. Macy felt very stupid.

Magic? Why had she believed that? There was no such thing as magic. She'd snuck out of the house after her mother had sent her to bed. Staying in that house just reminded her of her stupidity.

She'd grabbed the beans and headed back out to the marketplace. Maybe she could find the man who gave her the beans and _make_ him give her back Ellie.

The marketplace was closed when she got there. Apparently there was a royal festival happening this week, and tonight was the first of three balls to be held at the castle. Everyone had packed up early to attend. She kicked a nearby booth and instantly regretted it.

"Ow!" She exclaimed as she hopped on her foot and turned to sit on the booth. "So stupid!"

"Miss, are you all right?"

Macy jumped at the sound of the voice and hopped down from her seat. "I-I'm fine."

She intended on going on her way because she'd been taught never to talk to a strange man. But he kept talking to her.

"Are you sure? You kicked that booth very hard."

"I'm fine, really." She said as she looked up at the source of the voice. Her eyes widened and she swallowed thickly. This stranger was very handsome. She felt the sudden urge to tell him everything about herself, but she fought it. He smiled at her and his kind eyes met hers. And she realized that he didn't _feel_ like such a stranger. There was something vaguely familiar about him like she'd met him before.

"You look upset, is there anything I can do to help?"

"Unless you can turn these beans into 'magic' beans then no, you can't help," She told him as she thrust the small handful of beans into his face.

"Magic beans?" He asked in confusion.

"Yes, magic beans. I'm a very stupid girl who traded her favorite cow for 'magic' beans."

"You traded a cow…for beans?"

She glared at the man in front of her. He looked amused. She desperately wanted to smack that grin off of his face. "Forget it, I can see you're not going to be any help."

"No, wait," He said as he put himself between her and the trail. "I didn't mean to insult you. It's just…those are such _odd_ things to trade."

"Well, as you can tell I'm a very _odd_ girl," Macy sighed. "Every one says so."

He smiled brightly at her. "Being odd isn't a bad thing. Actually, it's kind of…refreshing."

"Uh huh," She said with a quirked eyebrow. "Then people must think you're odd too. Only people who _are_ odd say things like that."

He chuckled. "You're the first person other than my brothers to call me odd."

"Then should I say it again? You, whoever you are, are one odd duck."

He smiled again and Macy felt her throat tighten. "Kevin."

"What?" Macy asked.

"My name is Kevin."

"Oh, that's nice."

He gave her another amused look. He appeared to be waiting on something. "Well?"

"Well, what?" She asked.

"Aren't you going to tell me your name?"

"No, I don't know you."

"But I told you my name."

"That doesn't mean I _know_ you."

"Okay then what do I have to do to learn your name?" Kevin asked brightly.

"Find the man who made me think these beans were magic," she told him with a sigh. "Or find a way to really make them magic beans."

"Either one of those things might take a while."

"That's the point."

"So you're not ever going to tell me your name?"

"Did I say that?" She asked him with a grin. Yes, she was enjoying this. But she'd never had someone be so eager to know her name.

"All right, then if I'm going to find a way to make these beans truly magic then I think I'd better take a look at them," The man said as he stretched out his palm toward her.

She glared suspiciously at him. If he took off with her beans then she'd have no chance of getting Ellie back.

"I'm not going to steal them. I just want to have a look," He assured her.

She sighed and gave in. "Fine, but just one."

She placed a single bean in his hand. He studied it carefully and then tossed it from one hand to the next only he didn't catch it. Macy's eyes widened.

"Oh no! The bean! Find it! I have to have that bean if I'm going to get my cow back!" Macy said desperately as she sunk down into the mud to search for it. Kevin winced and cursed himself as he joined her.

Suddenly the ground below them began to shake and a little green leaf sprouted from the mud. Kevin pulled Macy back as the little green leaf grew, and grew, and grew until it wasn't so little anymore. It was a towering beanstalk.

"Um, I don't think that man lied to you," Kevin said as he and Macy stared up the length of the beanstalk.

"Wow," Macy said breathlessly. "Where do you think it goes?"

"Up?" Kevin suggested.

Macy laughed lightly and smiled at him. "I was right. You _are_ odd."


	2. Chapter 2

Justifies the Beans

By angellwings

* * *

CHAPTER TWO

"_Why you do what you do—that's the point. All the rest of it is chatter."_

_-Into the Woods, Act I, "Maybe They're Magic"

* * *

_

Nick couldn't believe it was so easy to sneak out of the castle. He'd even managed to take a horse with him. Granted it wasn't his horse. It was the court accountants. But still, he'd escaped with a horse. That was a big accomplishment for him. He smiled as he breathed in the fresh air. He felt so free. No courtiers, no guards. Just him, a horse, and nature. He didn't quite know why people were so scared of the woods. Sure, they were spooky at night but during the day the woods were quite beautiful. The light streamed through the trees and hit the ground in a way that was truly amazing.

He glanced around and suddenly realized he'd gone deeper into the woods than he'd intended. He craned his neck to see the tree line and look for familiar landmarks that would lead him home. But instead, he thought he saw…a roof.

He couldn't have, could he? The only building that could ever be that tall was a castle tower, but the castle was in the other direction. He rode toward the roof in the distance and he couldn't believe what he found. A doorless and impossibly tall tower. He could make out one large window at the very top and a figure crawling out of it.

Wait, what?

He blinked and squinted. There was a person climbing down a rope of some kind. He took his horse closer out of curiosity, and arrived just as the person, who appeared to be a girl, set her bare feet on the ground. His eyes widened as he got a good look at her and his jaw dropped. Not because she was beautiful, although she _was_ beautiful, it was because of her hair. It was so long that it rested in a pile at her feet. A smooth, shiny, dark brown pile.

She held a finger to her lips as her eyes desperately asked him to stay quiet. He nodded mutely and realized he had no idea what to do in this situation. It wasn't often that he came across a girl with hair longer than the length of her body (who appeared to be running away from something). He did the only thing that seemed appropriate. He helped her onto the back of his horse. She squealed softly as he gave her a boost, and he grinned at her amusement. He hopped on the horse himself and motioned for her to wrap her arms around his midsection. She gulped and nodded.

"Is this safe?" She whispered nervously into his ear.

He swallowed thickly and cleared his throat. "It's safe."

Suddenly, a scream spooked the horse and he reared back. Nick pulled the reins to gain control as the girl wrapped her arms around him tighter.

"Go, go, go!" She yelled.

He urged the horse forward and he took off through the woods.

"What are we running from?" Nick asked her as they rode.

"Um, my…guardian person."

"Guardian person? What does that mean exactly?"

"She raised me, but I'm not related to her."

"So, she's your adopted mother?"

The girl sighed. "No, it's not quite that personal. And she's kind of a witch."

"What did she do for you to think that she's—"

"No, she's really truly a _witch_."

"What?"

He'd heard stories about witches, but he'd been assured they were myths. Magic didn't exist. It just didn't.

The girl sighed. "She locked me in a tower. A tower that has no doors and only one window. How do you think she built that tower? Not with her own two hands, I can tell you."

"A witch? Like an evil, ugly, magical witch?"

The girl rested her head against his back tiredly. "You think I'm crazy, don't you?"

Truth be told, he did think she was a _little_ crazy. But nothing he'd seen of her so far seemed normal, so who was he to doubt whether or not her adopted mother really was a witch?

"Crazy? Maybe. Liar? Definitely not."

She breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. Thank you for helping me, by the way."

He tried not to huff as she lifted her head from his back. He actually hadn't minded the contact. "You're very welcome. Do you have a name?"

"Oh!" she said with a laugh. "I'm sorry! I'm Amy."

"Amy," He said thoughtfully. "I like it. I'm Nick."

"Well, Nick, where are we going?" She asked curiously.

Nick's brow furrowed. "I really don't know. Do you think your, um, witch is following us?"

"Probably."

"Then, we go home."

"Home?"

"Well, my home," he told her with a secretive smirk. "I think you'll like it."

* * *

"You brought a girl back to the castle?" Stella asked Nick in a flat tone.

He sighed. "Yes, she had no where else to go and she needed to be somewhere safe. This is the safest place I know."

"Have you told your parents about this yet?" Stella asked.

"No, he hasn't," Joe told her. "What are we supposed to do with her?"

"I don't know, Joe," Nick said dryly. "Protect her?"

"Hi," Amy said as she gave them all a small wave. "I'm in the room. I can hear you."

Stella turned and smiled at her. "Ignore these guys. They're princes, they don't know half as much as they claim to."

"I still can't believe—you're a _prince_?"

Nick smiled sheepishly. "Yes."

"I don't want to be an inconvenience. Really, I can find somewhere else to—"

"No," Nick interrupted her. "You're staying. I'm involved now, and if you leave…well I'll have to follow you."

Amy blushed. "But you don't even know me."

"Then I'll get to know you."

"Aw," Stella gushed. "You guys are so adorable! Amy, I'm making you a dress."

"Oh no, Stella you don't have to—"

"If you're a guest of the royal family then you'll have to go to the ball. So you'll need a dress. Luckily I have one ready to go that could possibly fit you," Stella said with a smile. She ran and fetched a soft yellow dress. "I think you look like you're about my size."

"Your size?" Joe asked. "Was that dress for you?"

Stella bit her lip. "I was thinking about sneaking out and going to the ball. I made a dress just in case."

Amy's eyes widened. "I don't want to take your dress!"

"No, it's fine. I can't go anyway. My aunt is apparently going to be on 'Stella Watch'. I can't risk it," Stella told Amy with a sigh. "Now, about your hair."

Amy immediately picked up her long hair. "What about my hair?"

"Well," Stella chuckled. "It's very…_long_. Did you ever think of getting a, um, trim?"

"_What?_ No! I'm not cutting my hair. There's nothing in this world that could make me cut my hair. Ever," Amy said adamantly.

Stella's eyes widened. "Okay, got it. No cutting. That's okay, we can work with that. We'll just see what we can do with braids. Braids are very elegant."

Joe waited until both girls were out of earshot. "We can't hide her here forever, Nick."

Nick sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I know. I'll figure something out."

* * *

Macy and Kevin continued to stare at the stalk.

"What do we do?" Kevin asked.

Macy smiled mischievously. "We climb it."

"Climb it? I don't think that's such a good—And you're climbing," Kevin said with a sigh as Macy began to find foot holds on the stalk. "Well, if you're gonna climb it then you're not gonna climb it alone. For the record, I think this is a really bad idea."

Macy chuckled. "You don't have to come."

"Yes I do. You don't know what's up there, and I can't let you find out alone."

Macy stopped climbing to smile appreciatively at Kevin. "My name is Macy."

He grinned brightly as she continued on her way up. "You told me your name."

"Only after you told me yours."

"Yes, but you said you wouldn't tell me unless I found the man who gave you the beans or I made the beans magical."

"The beans _are_ magical."

"But I didn't 'make' them that way."

"No, but you dropped the bean and proved to me they were magical."

"On accident."

"What does it matter? You wanted to know my name, and now you know. Be happy, Kevin."

"You said my name. No one ever says my name." Kevin said with a goofy grin.

Macy gave him a strange look. "No one ever says your name? Then what do they call you?"

His eyes widened as he tried to think of an answer. "Oh, um, they call me Kevin, but no one ever really uses my name. It's always 'Hey, you there!' or 'Excuse me, Sir?' I don't get a lot of 'Kevin' any more."

"I'll make the effort to use your name more often then," Macy said with a smile.

"Please do," Kevin told her happily. He really liked it when Macy said his name. It made his heart rate speed up ever so slightly. As they climbed Kevin heard the chiming of the castle clock tower and grimaced. Looks like he wasn't going to make it the ball after all. Maybe he'd get lucky and they wouldn't miss him.

He scoffed and shook his head.

Because people often overlook the crown prince, he thought sarcastically.

* * *

Stella collapsed onto her bed in exhaustion. Amy's hair was beautiful, but it took a lot of braids to get it up and off the floor. At least Stella's hard work had been for a good cause. Now Amy could dance without worrying about stepping on her hair. She rolled over and intended to go to sleep but found herself face to face with a beautiful light pink gown. She jumped up and gaped at the dress. It was gorgeous, but where had it come from?

Stella found a note attached to the dress. It was scribbled out in rather messy handwriting but she could make it out.

"You're late."

That's all it said. Just two words.

But she knew exactly what they meant.

She heard her aunt snoring in the other room. If she hurried she could sneak out and be back before her Aunt Lisa realized she was gone. Stella made herself an eye mask out of cloth very quickly. She wouldn't want any of her aunt's friends to recognize her. She changed into the dress and snuck her way down the stairs and out the door.

She was going to the ball, and she'd prove to Joe once and for all that she _was_, in fact, a girl.

* * *

Amy starred at herself in the full length mirror in her room. She'd never seen a full length mirror before. It was interesting. All she'd ever seen of herself was from her shoulders up. She wasn't sure how she felt about being able to see her entire body. She was thin. Really thin. And extremely pale.

But that made sense considering she'd never been outside before today. It's hard to get exercise in a one room tower so she really didn't have a lot of muscle, and Stella had told her pale was good. Pale meant you didn't work outside which would mean she'd be more likely to blend in with the girls at court. Stella's dress nearly fit her. It had been big a few places, but Stella had taken care of that right away. Now it hugged in all the right places.

Amy thought she looked rather pretty. Stella had braided her hair, and Amy had tried to help. She knew it was a lot of hair to braid. Stella had wrapped one braid around her head twice like a crown and had wrapped another braid around her larger braid that held most of her hair. They'd had to loop the larger braid to keep her hair from dragging the floor.

She sighed and looked around the room. What was she doing here? Why had she picked today to escape? And _how_ was she so lucky as to have a prince find her? He'd been dressed like the occasional woodsmen that passed buy her tower so she'd thought that's what he was, but then when he'd brought her "home" she'd been too shocked to speak.

Her "Mother" had always told her royals were not to be trusted. But Nick had been nothing but nice to her from the beginning. What kind of royal would help a strange girl climbing down from a very tall tower? A nice one, she hoped. He'd barely left her side since they arrived. He'd had to now, of course, because he had to get ready as well.

She couldn't really figure Nick out. He seemed so dry and level headed when he spoke with Stella and Joe. Yet when he spoke to her he seemed sweeter, softer somehow. She didn't understand it. Of course, there were a great deal of things she didn't understand. She'd never really interacted with this many people before.

She'd done a lot of things today that she'd never done before. Like ride a horse. She'd seen people riding by on them from her window, but never had she seen one up close. Or ridden one. She'd been scared out of her mind and had simply held onto Nick for dear life. She'd have to try riding a horse again some time when she wasn't so terrified.

There was a knock on her door, and Amy hesitantly answered it. She sucked in a breath. It was Nick, but not the Nick she'd been familiar with. No, this was _Prince_ Nick. He was dressed in deep royal blue. His clothes were made from the most luxurious fabrics, and to top it all off there was a crown resting on his head. The crown seemed to make it more of a reality than it was before.

Her first day in the world and she'd already met a prince.

Nick smiled brightly at her. He'd been doing that a lot when he saw her. Smiling, that is. She'd noticed that the most he'd given Stella or Joe had been a grin. Amy rather liked his smile. She thought he should smile at more people more often.

He struggled to contain his smile as he spoke. "You didn't ask who it was."

Her brow furrowed. Not the first words she'd been expecting.

He sighed and took a step toward her. "I could have been _anyone_. That's not safe."

She nodded and looked down at her hands. "Sorry, I'll remember to ask next time."

"You look beautiful," Nick told her as his smile returned and his eyes softened. "Although, I do miss seeing you carrying the rest of your hair in your arms."

She laughed as his eyes twinkled teasingly at her. "Stella, thought this might make it easier to dance. Not that I know how."

"You've never danced?" He asked in disbelief.

"When would I have danced, Nick? I've been all alone in a tower since I was four."

There was a playful grin on her face, but Nick couldn't help but feel badly for her. Why would someone do that? Especially to some one like Amy. She seemed like the type of person who would try and really enjoy life, and yet she'd been unable to do that. "Well, then I suppose you'll just have to follow my lead."

"Y-you want to dance with me?"

To be honest, she was the only person he really _wanted_ to dance with. He knew he would have to dance with others as a polite gesture, but he didn't really _want_ to. "Of course."

He offered her his arm. She smiled excitedly as she accepted and he led her through the castle toward the ball room. Life outside of her tower certainly was exciting.


	3. Chapter 3

Justifies the Beans

By angellwings

* * *

CHAPTER THREE

"_You think, what do you want? You think, make a decision."_

_-Into the Woods, Act I, "The Steps of the Palace"

* * *

_

Joe felt like banging his head against a wall. The ball had just started and he was already wanting to shoot himself. Could there be at least one girl here who interested him? Just one that was all he wanted.

Nick and Amy entered the room then, and the girls that surrounded Joe immediately began to whisper. They had a right to whisper he realized because Nick looked happier than Joe had ever seen him. He was smiling and laughing with her.

He'd never pegged Nick to be the love at first sight type. But apparently, he was. Some of the girls were glaring at Amy, and Joe knew that would not turn out well. He'd also spotted some of the knights letting their gazes linger a little too long on Amy. Well, at least _this_ would keep him entertained.

"Who's that?" A voice asked him. Joe turned to find Carl curiously starring at Amy. Carl, was the son of the castle steward. Should anything happen to the royal family, Carl's family would take over. He was also one of Joe's best friends.

"A girl that Nick found wandering the woods and brought home."

"No, not her. I already know about that one. _Her_."

Joe followed Carl's gesture to the bottom of the stairs just beyond Nick and Amy. His eyes widened and then his brow furrowed at the sight of a masked girl in a beautiful pink gown. "I—I don't know."

"If you ever want to find out you better do it now," Carl told him. "Tosh looks ready to move in for the kill."

Joe glared at the knight Carl mentioned. Tosh was the resident champion, his father's strongest knight, and Joe's bitter rival. "I'm on it."

Joe made his way to her and arrived _just_ before Tosh. He cleared his throat. "Would you care to dance?"

The mystery girl smiled brightly at him. "I would love to dance."

Joe smirked at the glare Tosh threw his way and led the masked girl out onto the dance floor. He then returned his glance to the girl in front of him. He wondered what she looked like under the mask. Her eyes were certainly very pretty. He smiled brightly at her. "I'm Joe."

She smirked at him. "I know."

"Right, I forget that everyone knows that sometimes. And even though I can see you're trying to disguise your identity I'm going to ask you for it anyway. Do you have a name?"

"Yes."

"Can you tell me what it is?"

"No, but you can guess."

"How can I guess? You could be anyone."

Her eyes narrowed slightly, and her lips pursed in a manner that told him he'd some how upset her. That look was oddly familiar. It made him think of Stella. "That's the challenge, your Highness."

He quirked a brow at her. "Challenge? You're giving me a challenge?"

She nodded curtly. "You've got to guess who I am because I'm not going to tell you."

That sounded _rude_. This girl was being openly rude to him as if she didn't care a single bit about _who_ he was.

And he _liked_ it.

"Then I suppose I have no choice."

They continued to dance as he filed through all the names of the girls at court. His eyes flicked to her hair color and he mentally crossed off all the brunettes and red heads. That still left a lot of names for him to guess. There were a lot of blondes in the court.

He smiled wryly at her. "I'm afraid this might take a while."

If it was possible she looked even more upset. He smirked. Well, he'd asked for someone interesting, and it looked like he'd found her.

* * *

Nick smiled softly at Amy in amusement. She was concentrating awfully hard on the steps. She was biting down on her lip as she watched their feet carefully. He cleared his throat and she looked up worriedly.

"Did I step on your foot again? I was watching and I didn't think I did but—"

"Amy," he chuckled. "You're doing fine. I was just going to tell you that you _can_ look up. Sometimes concentrating too much on what you want your feet to do doesn't help."

"Right, I can do that." She lifted her head and met his eyes. "I feel like everyone is staring at us."

He nodded. "They are. Well, half of them are. The other half is staring at Joe and the girl he's dancing with."

"Oh," Amy said as she blushed. She then quickly changed the subject. "Don't you have another older brother?"

Nick nodded. "I do."

"Then where is he?"

"Probably spending the night in someone's barn. He tends to disappear for days to help local farmers or anyone else who might need it," Nick told her with a chuckle. "He's all about the people."

"You know, none of you are anything like Tanta said you were."

Nick's brow furrowed. "Tanta?"

"My guardia—"

"Guardian person, right. I remember. What did she _say_ we were like?"

Amy blushed in embarrassment. "I don't really want to say. She really _hates _royalty. Of any kind. She told me all royals were spoiled selfish creatures who only cared about the taxes they collected from the villagers...among _other_ things. But you're not. You're nothing like that at all."

"This Tanta person," Nick said with a clenched jaw. "How did she...treat you?"

"She's never struck me if that's what you're asking. She's always been very manipulative, and until recently I always took her word above all else. She said that she found me in the woods and took me in. That's what she told me, and I had no reason not to believe her, but then—" Amy cut off her own sentence as if she didn't want to continue.

"Then?" Nick asked.

"Someone came looking for me," She told him. "And I know they were looking for me because they stood below my tower for days…just waiting. But then Tanta found him. He was there one minute and gone the next. And I don't mean he ran. I mean…he vanished. And when I asked her who he was she told me it wasn't important."

His eyes widened. "Did you ever find out who—"

She nodded. "Tanta dropped a note on her way out of the tower that day. It was from that man. He—he was my father. The note said that she took me from him. It was something about how she caught him stealing from her garden and took me as payment. And now, I don't know what to think. She lied to me. No one abandoned me. She _stole_ me."

"So, that's why you ran away?"

She nodded. "I don't want to be manipulated anymore. I want to find out what the world is like for myself and make my own opinions."

He nodded. "Good. You should. Everyone should."

She smiled at him. "What were you doing at my tower today anyway?"

"Going for a ride," He chuckled. "I just wanted to get out of the castle for a bit and explore, but I got a lot more than I bargained for."

"Is that good or bad?" Amy asked worriedly.

He smiled. "That's _very_ good."

Nick felt someone tap his shoulder and turned to find Carl Shuster grinning at him.

"May I cut in?" He asked.

_Hell no_, Nick thought, but he knew he couldn't say that. That wasn't polite in this situation and with his mother watching he _had_ to be polite. He glared at Carl as he ground out, "Sure, Carl. Be my guest."

Amy didn't look happy either. She didn't want to dance with this Carl person. She wanted to dance with Nick.

Carl smiled. "Good, you can't hog one of the prettiest girls here _all night_ Nick."

Nick angrily walked away. He stood in a corner of the room and watched Carl dance with Amy. Carl better not try anything. Just then the clock tower chimed loudly. It could just barely be heard over the music. There was a commotion on the other side of the dance floor as Joe's mystery girl sprinted from the room.

Joe hadn't had the presence of mind to follow her. He was still staring at the spot where she'd been standing moments ago.

* * *

Stella hadn't wanted to leave. She'd actually been enjoying watching Joe trying to figure out who she was. Granted, it did sting a little every time he _didn't_ guess her.

But she _had_ to leave. Her aunt would notice she was gone if she didn't get home soon.

She sighed as she took off her shoes and lifted her skirts to walk through the mud. She really hated rain. It ruined her hair and left a lot of nasty mud behind. She made it to her aunts boarding house and swiftly snuck up the stairs. She changed into her night dress and quickly rinsed off her feet before putting her dress away.

The door knob jiggled and she jumped into her bed and under the covers _just_ as her aunt peeked inside the room. The door closed a few minutes later and Stella breathed a sigh of relief. Tomorrow was another ball. The question was, should she go?

What if Joe found out who she was and was terribly disappointed? Yes, they were friends, but that didn't mean he wanted her the way she wanted him. As doubts and insecurities clouded her mind Stella knew she wouldn't be getting much sleep tonight.

* * *

Joe joined Nick in the corner and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Well, my evening just went from amazing to terrible in a matter of seconds," Joe told him. "She _ran away_ from me. And I'm a prince! What kind of girl runs away from a prince?"

"Joe, get your friend Carl _away_ from Amy before I _kill_ him."

"What?" Joe asked as he glanced out at the dance floor. He smirked when he spotted Carl taking a turn around the dance floor with Amy. "How long have they been dancing?"

"Twenty minutes."

Joe's eyes widened as someone else stepped toward Carl and Amy. "Well, I think they're about to stop."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because Tosh just cut in."

"What?" Nick asked sharply. Her dancing with Carl had been annoying because it kept Nick from dancing with her, but Tosh…Tosh was a favorite among a lot of the girls in the court.

The brothers watched as Tosh took Carl's place and said something to Amy that made her grin and blush. They began to dance and Amy laughed merrily at a comment Van Dyke made.

"This will be fun," Joe said as he caught sight of Nick's glare.

Nick marched toward Tosh and Amy. He could tolerate Carl flirting with her, but Tosh…_hell_ no. Nick tapped Tosh's shoulder stiffly. "I'm cutting in."

Tosh sighed. He couldn't exactly refuse to let a prince cut in. He glared at Nick and stepped to the side. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Amy. Maybe you could save a dance for me at tomorrow's ball?"

Amy looked between the two men on either side of her. She bit her bottom lip before answering. She really would have rather danced with Nick and _only_ Nick, but it would be rude to refuse Van Dyke. Yes, he told her to call him Van Dyke. He'd been very attentive and thoughtful. She felt like she owed him at least one more dance. "Of course."

Nick took his place as Amy's dance partner while Van Dyke walked away. He sighed and turned a glare to Amy. "What are you doing?"

She rolled her eyes. "I'm being friendly."

"Well, you don't have to be _that_ friendly."

"What does that mean?"

He sighed. "If you keep acting the way you were tonight Tosh is going to think he's courting you."

She quirked an eyebrow at him. "Courting?"

"Courting, you know, pursuing you."

"Pursuing me? Am I being hunted?"

Nick smirked wryly at that. "In a manner of speaking."

"I don't think I like the idea of being hunted."

"I can't say I like the idea of you being hunted either, but it's the way things are," Nick grumbled.

"So, if Van Dyke—"

"Van Dyke? You're calling him Van Dyke now?"

"He asked me to."

"_Don't_ call him Van Dyke."

"Why? That's his name, isn't it?" Amy asked in confusion.

"It's his name, but it means you're willing to be extremely familiar with him."

"But I don't understand, what happens if Van Dyke hunts me and…you know catches me?"

"Usually, being…caught results in betrothal. That's the point of 'courting' or 'wooing' someone," Nick told her.

"Betrothal?" Amy asked in disbelief. "So, Van Dyke is trying to marry me?"

"He's trying to see if he _wants_ to marry you."

"So, to be 'courting' is to do what exactly?" Amy asked as she tilted her head to the side curiously.

"You take the time to get to know each other, basically. You spend as much time as you can together and even a little time you can't. You try to build a friendship and mutual respect," Nick explained thoughtfully.

She smiled in understanding. "Like what we've been doing."

Nick froze and blinked. "What?"

Her brow furrowed. "Isn't it? I mean we've been doing all of those things that you listed. So, we've been 'courting', kind of. Right?"

"I—I don't know."

"You don't know? But you said—"

"Amy, I know what I said, all right?" He said with a snap. Amy flinched and stepped back slightly.

"If you're going to be rude to me then I'm going to leave. If I wanted to be treated like a stupid child I would have stayed in my tower."

"Amy," Nick began tiredly. He didn't want to argue with her. He just didn't realize how deep he'd fallen until now.

"Don't say my name like that," She said with a glare. "You say that like I'm the confused one, but I'm not. I know exactly what's going on here. _You're_ the one who's confused, and you're taking it out on me."

There wasn't anything he could say. She was right.

He sighed. "I just don't—"

"Merlin's pants! if you were planning on saying 'I just don't know' then please, _don't_," Amy huffed. "I don't want to hear it."

A long silence stretched out between them and Amy removed her hand from his shoulder. His eyes traveled to the hand he held in his own, and prayed she didn't remove that one too. He didn't want to stop dancing.

"Don't stop dancing, please."

She sighed. "I suddenly don't feel like dancing anymore. It's not as much fun as it used to be."

She slowly pulled her other hand from his, and Nick felt a frown settle across his face. He opened his mouth to speak and reached out for her arm, but she narrowly avoided his grasp and shook her head at him.

"Figure out what you want, Nick," She told him. "_Then_ we'll dance."

He stood frozen in the middle of the dance floor. What was happening to him? Why wouldn't his feet move? Why did it feel like something inside of him was breaking at the sight of her walking away? And, most importantly, _why_ couldn't he say any of this to her?


	4. Chapter 4

Justifies the Beans

By angellwings

* * *

CHAPTER FOUR

"_Little more than a glance is enough to show you just how small you are."_

_-Into the Woods, Act I, "Giants in the Sky"

* * *

_

They reached the top of the beanstalk and Macy's eyes widened. "Woah."

"What?" Kevin asked as he joined her. "What do you see? Does everyone look like tiny ants?"

"Not exactly."

"Not exactly? What do you mean not exac—Woah."

Macy nodded mutely. "Agreed. That is one big blade of grass."

Neither of them spoke as they stared at the large, thin green blade. It was as tall as one of the castle doors. After a moment Macy spoke up again.

"That _is_ a blade of grass, right?"

Kevin's brow furrowed as he studied it. "I think so. It's just really tall."

"This whole place is 'really tall'," Macy told him as she looked around. "Where _are_ we?"

"You don't think—No, it can't be."

"Can't be…?" Macy asked.

"Well, my father used to tell me that thunder was merely the noise we heard when a giant was dancing. But, surely, there's not _actually_ giants in the world."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why wouldn't there be giants in the world?" Macy asked. "If we can exist then giants can exist. You don't really think that we're the only standard of measurement for life do you?"

Kevin quirked an eyebrow at her. "I'd never thought about it that way."

"C'mon," Macy said as she walked forward.

"Wait," Kevin exclaimed as he followed her. "Where are we going?"

"Exploring."

"Exploring? In a giant world? Are you crazy?"

"Fine, then, you don't have to come."

She continued walking and Kevin sighed as he chased after her. "I'm not going to let you be eaten by a giant. I'm staying."

"Well, then pick up the pace, Kev. We've got a lot of ground to cover."

After several minutes of walking Macy stopped.

"Something wrong?" Kevin asked.

"I think we're going in circles."

Kevin's brow furrowed. "How can you tell? We're walking in a forest of grass."

"After getting lost in a cornfield several times over I've picked up a knack for knowing these sorts of things," Macy said as she looked up at the night sky. "It would help if these clouds would clear up. I can't see the stars past all the rain clouds."

"Then maybe we'd better stay put for the night. It's late, and I don't think walking in circles will do anything but exhaust us," Kevin suggested.

"Stay put? Out in the open?"

"We'll make…a tent or something," Kevin said with a nod as he spotted a few leaves that had fallen to the ground. "With leaves!" He ran over to a massive maple leaf and walked circles around it appraisingly. "We can prop them up next to each other and that will give us shelter for tonight."

"I suppose so," Macy said as she joined him in constructing a shelter. Once they were done Macy turned to him. "Now what?"

"We sleep."

"Mhm," She said with a nod. "Where?"

Kevin suddenly realized there was one tent and two of them. It wouldn't be an issue except that Macy was a girl. "Oh."

Macy sighed and bit her bottom lip. "Well, this isn't a typical situation we're in. We _need_ to stay together for safety. I don't think it would be too terribly scandalous if we shared the tent. Besides, it's not like anyone's here to see us."

Kevin gulped. That didn't make him feel any less awkward. "Yes, this is true."

Well, this wouldn't be mortifying at all. They both settled down in the tent and tried to lay as far from the other as possible, but no matter how they turned some part of them seemed to be touching. Macy finally decided to just lay on her back. Her hand touching Kevin's was a lot less embarrassing than some other things that could be touching. Macy tried to sleep, but she couldn't. What was she doing here?

Oh yes, avoiding her mother.

Here she was lying in a tent made of two large leaves in a strange land _with_ a strange man. She knew nothing about this "Kevin". What if that wasn't his real name? What if he was some sort of thief or murderer? His fingers nudged hers again and she froze. She felt him tense as well.

He sure didn't _act _like a thief or some sort of hardened criminal. And she felt like she could trust him. She even felt…safe. Which seemed ridiculous in this situation because she was anything _but_.

She layed there wide awake the whole night. Every little movement Kevin made set her on edge. She didn't know why, but he made her feel this weird mix of comfort and fear. As the cloudy sky above them brightened Macy actually started to drift off. Her body seemed to know that it was either sleep now or run on empty for the rest of the day. Just as she was about to fall asleep a blast of water knocked down the tent and covered herself and Kevin.

They both jumped up and coughed and sputtered.

"What was that?" Macy asked as she looked around at their destroyed tent. Kevin glanced up to the sky fearfully.

"That. Was rain."

"No! It couldn't have been rain drops aren't—"

"Macy, you do remember where we are, don't you?"

Another drop fell a few feet away and caused an explosion of dirt and mud. "Oh! We're gonna die! We're gonna be hit with one of _those_ and we're gonna die!"

"We're not going to die," Kevin told her sternly as he grabbed her hand. "Come on, we've got to get moving."

"Where are we going?" She asked.

"Higher ground," He said quickly.

They ran as fast as they could but drop after drop was falling all around them and the water began to rise. Their run had been slowed to a determined walk, and Macy had begun to shiver slightly. Her skirts and petticoats were soaked up past her waist. The water line, itself, had risen to just below her knees. They were fighting the water with every step they took.

There was a dull roar from ahead of them and their eyes widened at the sight of a wall of water headed their way. Kevin turned with the intention of grabbing Macy and holding her to him to keep them from being separated, but the water hit sooner than he'd expected. Macy's hand slipped from Kevin's and she panicked. She knew how to swim. She was good at it too, but the water was pushing against her too fast and the cold had seemed to affect her mind. She couldn't get her brain to make her legs and arms work together.

She slipped below the water line and tried desperately to pull herself back up. She barely hit the surface but had enough presence of mind to take a deep breath. She almost immediately felt herself being pulled back under. If only she were taller then she could touch. The ground was just out of her reach. She reached an arm out of the water wildly and hoped there would be something for her to hold onto.

Her arm had almost sunk back into the water when a hand grabbed it and pulled her upward. Her eyes opened to see Kevin in front of her and she hugged him tightly.

"Are you all right?" He asked as they pulled apart.

She coughed and spit out some water. "I-I'm fine. Just cold and wet."

"Me too," Kevin told her with a small grin. He looked around and saw a round curved leaf floating nearby. "Come on."

"We are not getting on that leaf."

"Why not?"

"It will sink!"

"You don't know that. At the very least we have to try. Unless you'd rather tread cold rain water for who knows how long."

Kevin gave Macy a boost into the leaf and to her surprise it stayed afloat. She waited for Kevin to try and hop in, but he never did. She glared at him. "What are you doing?"

"I'm swimming beside the leaf."

"No, you're not. You're supposed to be _in_ the leaf. With me."

"I don't think it can hold both of us. I'm fine, really. You stay up there and dry off. We'll find a dry patch of land soon."

Macy huffed and moved to climb back into the water, but Kevin put his hand on her waist to stop her. She was momentarily distracted by the contact before she remembered what she was doing. Kevin's brow was furrowed in confusion. "What are you—"

"I'm getting out. I refuse to be in that leaf drying off while _you're _in the water being a hero."

"Macy—"

"No, either you get in or I get out. That's the way it is. We're both in the leaf or we're both in the water. Take your pick."

He shook his head at her. "Has anyone ever told you that you're hard headed and stubborn?"

She smiled proudly at him. "All the time. What's it gonna be, hero-boy?"

He grinned at her in amusement. "Get back in the leaf."

"Not unless you—"

"I'm coming in," He interrupted. "But you have to get back in first. If this leaf sinks, I have every right to say 'I told you so'."

* * *

Stella showed up at the castle the next morning determined to pretend that this was like every other day.

But then she found Joe waiting for her in the wardrobe room.

"Stella! You will never believe what happened last night!"

"You might be surprised," She muttered to herself as she approached him. "Oh? What? Kevin didn't come home?"

"No, that's all too believable."

"So he didn't come home then?"

"Of course not, and Nick and I got a lecture about our 'responsibilities', but that's not what I want to talk about!"

"Okay, okay," She chuckled. "What do you want to talk about?"

"A girl ran away from me last night! _Literally_!" He told her.

"Why wouldn't I believe that?" Stella asked teasingly. "Which girl?"

"I don't know! She wouldn't tell me who she was. She wanted me to guess. I don't know anything about her, how was I supposed to guess?" He asked irritably.

"Maybe she was hoping you wouldn't have to. That you would just…know."

"I'm not a mind reader, Stells."

"I know that, but surely you have some idea who she is, don't you?"

"All I have is hair and eye color. She was wearing a mask."

Stella rolled her eyes at him. "I'm not talking about her looks, dimwit. I'm talking about her personality, her habits, those kind of things."

Joe smiled softly at Stella and stepped closer to her. "She did do this one thing."

Her eyebrows rose. "Oh?"

"Yeah, it reminded me of someone I know."

He was grinning secretively at her. Did he know? Had he known all along? "Who?"

His eyes widened and his smile fell. "I don't know. I couldn't place it."

_Yes you could_, Joe thought to himself. _You're just too much of a coward to admit it_.

"Oh," Stella said as she swallowed thickly. That hadn't been what she was expecting him to say. She suddenly wondered if this guessing thing was a good idea. What if he _never_ guessed her? He'd only been guessing girls from the court last night. She was not a member of the court. She had a sinking feeling that this little game she was playing was going to break her heart.

"You should really come tonight, Stella. I would love to have your help figuring out who she is. Can't you sneak past your aunt for just one night?" He asked.

She sighed. "No, I can't, Joe. I really can't."

She didn't think Joe's mystery girl could either. Going to the ball suddenly seemed too risky. There was too much at stake.

Joe had left not long after that to let Stella get to work. She was needed in the queen's chambers for a fitting, but on her way there she overheard two girls as they talked about Joe. She paused and hid from sight. They were talking about the Joe's mystery girl.

"Do you think she'll show herself again tonight?"

"I don't know, Vanessa, but I can tell you one thing. I'm not going. I didn't go last night so maybe if I don't go tonight he'll think she's me. After all I'm a blond too, you know."

"Fiona, do you really think that's going to work?"

"It's worth a shot, right? Be sure to tell me if she shows. I want to know all the details so that I can answer any questions Joe might ask me."

Stella glared at them as they walked away. They were planning to hurt Joe. They were using her own creation against him. She'd been right. Going to that ball last night had been a bad idea. It was very likely that Joe felt nothing for her and now he was going to end up with someone horrible. Both their hearts would be broken.

_Way to go, Stella_, She thought to herself.

Now she _had_ to go to the ball. If only to warn Joe.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** Hayley asked for another update. Haha, and she asked very nicely. So here it is. :)

* * *

Justifies the Beans

By angellwings

* * *

CHAPTER FIVE

"_You're free to do whatever pleases you. Exploring things you'd never dare cause you don't care."_

_-Into the Woods, Act I, "Giants in the Sky"

* * *

_

The sun came out and the water started to recede. Kevin got out and guided their "boat" to first patch of dry dirt they could find. It had managed to stay above the water level, and the sun was shining directly on it. It was the perfect place to dry off. They laid down side by side in the sun.

Macy found it very had not to stare at Kevin. His curls were wet and sticking to his forehead, and his white linen shirt was practically transparent. She could see every muscle he had through the material. He looked _very_ good. Too good. So good that she was having thoughts she didn't think she should be having about someone she barely knew. She forced herself to look away and think of other things. She wasn't having much luck with it though.

He was also drying off much quicker than her. He didn't have as many layers to dry as she did. She had her chemise, her petticoats, and _then_ her dress to dry. She had two petticoats just for her stupid little work dress. They were annoying, soaked, and heavy. She could barely move in them and she wanted them off. She began to take them off in angry frustration, but was interrupted by a voice.

"M-macy?"

"Yes, Kevin?"

"What are you doing?"

"These petticoats are driving me crazy!"

"Right," He said as his voice cracked slightly. "You take care of that, and I'm just going to go stand over there."

As Kevin left Macy's eyes widened and she blushed. She'd forgotten he was there! She'd been so uncomfortable that she had just completely forgotten Kevin was sitting _right_ beside of her.

Kevin turned his back to Macy and swallowed thickly. It had been hard enough to keep from staring at her _before_ she'd started removing clothing. That dress, even with the petticoats, had hugged her in every way possible once it was wet. It clung to her, and caught every bit of Kevin's attention. He'd had to remind himself that he was a gentleman, and kissing Macy senseless probably wasn't very gentlemanly. Especially since he barely knew her.

"All clear."

His brow furrowed. Had that small voice really come from Macy? He turned and found her looking red faced and thoroughly embarrassed. Her petticoats were discarded in a pile behind her and she was looking everywhere but at him. Her dress looked less bulky, and clung to her even more. He swallowed thickly and sat back down next to her. "Feel better?"

He'd hoped that would break the ice, but it didn't.

When she didn't respond he sighed and stood again. Macy had crawled into a shell he didn't know she had. How was he going to get her out of it?

He smirked as he got an idea, and slowly snuck up behind her. He poked her sides and leaned close to her ear. She screamed and jumped before turning to face him.

"Tag, you're it," He whispered with a wink.

"What?" She asked in confusion as he bolted away.

"I said, 'Tag, you're it!' and now you've got to catch me. Or have you never played tag?" He called to her as he ran. "Are you coming or are you just going to sit there?"

She stood up and quirked an eyebrow at him.

He laughed. "What? Are you afraid you won't be able to catch me? Should I run slower for you?"

Her mouth fell open and she glared at him playfully. "Oh you did not! Don't you dare slow down! I could catch you even on my _worst_ day."

He wiggled his eyebrows up and down with a challenging smile. "Prove it."

Macy took off after him and Kevin couldn't stop the surprised yelp that escaped his lips. Macy was _fast_. Eventually they came to a stand still. They just kept running circles around a tree. And just when Kevin thought Macy had given she slammed into him and forced him to the ground. He let out a loud grunt as he landed with her on top of his chest.

She giggled and smirked at him. "Tag, you're it."

Macy's gaze caught Kevin's and the mood quickly changed. The air was suddenly charged with some sort of tension. Neither moved for several moments until suddenly Kevin began to wiggle around and helped her stand.

"Sorry!" Macy began apologetically. "I didn't hit you too hard, did I? I've been told that I'm just a little too forceful some—"

Kevin smiled softly at her. "I'm fine, Mace."

"Are you sure? Because you seem, ah, different. You're acting strange and I don't really know what to—"

Kevin heard Macy squeak softly as his lips captured hers. He'd tried to fight himself. He had, but he just _had_ to know what kissing Macy would be like. Macy's hands, that had tensed against his chest, relaxed and slipped up to rest on his shoulders. He pulled her closer and placed a few more kisses on her lips before pulling away. Macy sighed happily and opened her eyes.

"What was that for?"

Kevin smiled and shrugged. "You looked like you wanted to be kissed, that's all."

"I-I did?" She asked.

He nodded and smiled sweetly. "I could kiss you again if you want?"

She blushed and beamed at him. "I think I'd like that—"

Kevin leaned in to kiss her and Macy put a hand on his chest to stop him. "But first, I need food. I'm starving."

Kevin's shoulders drooped and he shook his head at her in amusement. "You need food…_now_?"

"It just hit me how hungry I am! I haven't had anything since lunch yesterday," Macy explained. "I'm famished."

* * *

From the balcony attached to his chambers Nick could see nearly everything. That's not to say he could make out the details but he could see the majority of the castle grounds. The closest thing to his balcony was the gardens. The gardens where members of the court often walked to be alone. He knew that lots of marriage proposals took place there. In fact, his own father had proposed to his mother in these gardens.

It seemed funny to him that people had forgotten that Queen Sandy hadn't always been a royal. Her family had _just_ been made members of the court when she'd met King Thomas (then _Prince_ Thomas). His mother had told him that at the time his father's proposal had been the talk of the castle.

So, all these princesses and courtiers who thought he and his brothers just _had_ to pick them couldn't be more wrong. They had been raised with the idea of finding love. Of course, this fact had been kept between the family. The boys didn't want to be rushed by every girl in the kingdom.

But _that_ wasn't Nick's problem right now. His problem was that he was falling too hard and too fast. It was scaring him ever so slightly. He could barely catch his breath. Not only that, but he couldn't seem to put any of this into words for Amy. He needed to find a way though because he wasn't the only one vying for Amy's attention.

He heard a familiar laugh from the garden path below him. Amy. He smiled softly and set his eyes ahead on the trail to where he knew the path would bring her. His eyes took in her dark brown braided hair and the light green gown she wore. She looked beautiful.

But his thoughts of her were interrupted by a distinctly male voice behind her. Nick's smile faded into a scowl when Carl's red head came into view. What was she doing with Carl? She didn't seem that interested in him last night, but here she was strolling through the romantic castle gardens with him…alone.

His reaction would have been different if he'd truly been able to say she was his. Not in the barbaric personal property way that most men of privilege used, but more in reference to both their hearts. Amy had his. He knew that now more than ever, but he didn't know if he had hers. That uncertainty was causing him to feel all kinds of things.

His fists were clenching, his glare seemed stuck on his face, and the murderous thoughts floating in and out of his head would have won him a _strongly_ worded lecture from his mother. But he couldn't help it. Seeing them together made his imagination jump from one thing to the next. Amy and Carl would be betrothed and then married. And he would be forced to sit back and watch it all. He would never be happy with another woman (because they were always going to be compared to Amy), and he would die alone.

Amy and Carl would have kids, be prosperous and successful, and yet he could see Amy not really and truly being in love with him. She would be settled and comfortable, but would she be truly happy with Carl?

Nick didn't think so. He didn't want that for Amy. He didn't want that for himself. That was the future that could never be. He would see to it that Amy had her chance to be happy (whether that happiness included him or not). He was going to fix all of this ridiculous tension floating between Amy and himself. Tonight.

* * *

Kevin and Macy had walked a little ways on their search for food. Finally they found an apple tree. And a massive apple that appeared to have just fallen from the tree that morning during the rain. They laughed as they discussed how to eat it, and then finally dug in. They'd come no where close to eating the whole apple. It was huge.

_To a giant_, Macy thought. _It would probably appear as if someone had taken two bites. Two small bites._

Once they were done they found a spot in the sun once again. And Macy was pleasantly surprised when Kevin reached over and took her hand in his. His hands were a strange mix of callused and soft, and she wondered if the calluses, like her own, were from working on a farm.

Kevin suddenly turned to her with a strange intensity in his eyes and said, "I want to know everything."

She blinked at him. "Huh?"

"I want to know everything about you. Everything."

She blushed. "No you don't. I'm just your typical farm girl—"

"I don't care. I want to know every detail I can find out. Like…which of your baby teeth fell out first?"

"What?" She asked with a laugh. No one had ever asked her that before.

"Which of your baby teeth did you lose first?" He repeated seriously.

"Um, my two front ones," Macy answered as she suppressed a chuckle.

"Your favorite color?"

"Orange."

"Do you have a pet?"

Macy paused and sighed. "Had a pet. Ellie."

He nodded as he remembered. "The cow. What did she look like?"

She turned to him curiously. "You don't think it's odd for a girl to keep a cow as a pet?"

"I thought we'd all ready established that you were odd?" He asked with a teasing grin before turning serious. "No, Macy, I don't think that's odd. What did Ellie look like?"

"She was white. Milky white with the exception of one black spot behind her ear. No one but me really noticed that spot was there."

"I'm sure you'll find her," Kevin told her as he squeezed her hand.

"No, I won't. That man is long gone with her by now," Macy told him glumly.

"Have a little faith, Macy."

She sighed and rested her head on his shoulder. "Next question?"

"Hobbies?"

"Everything," She said brightly.

He laughed. "Everything?"

"Gardening, horseback riding, sword fighting, knitting, swimming…anything and everything, really."

"Family?"

"It's just me and my mother."

"What happened to—"

"My father? He left when I was very little. I don't even remember him. Which is fine with me. If I did remember him I wouldn't have any respect for him."

"I'm sorry," Kevin told her softly as he brought the back of her hand to his lips and kissed it. "You didn't deserve that."

She smiled warmly at him and blushed at the feeling of his lips on her hand. "It's okay, really. I've made my peace with it. It's his loss, not mine."

"Agreed," Kevin told her with a nod.

"What about you?" Macy asked.

"Me?"

She nodded. "Your family. What are they like?"

"Oh, um, you know just your average family," He said as his voice reached a higher pitch. He cleared his throat. "Mom, dad, me, and three younger brothers."

"And what do they do?"

"Do?" Kevin repeated.

"You know, for a living? Obviously, you can tell my mom and I are farmers. Well, not all on our own we have a hired hand. Just one. That we can barely afford to pay," Macy suddenly shook herself. "Not the point. The point is…what does your family do?"

_Oh, boy_, Kevin thought. He didn't know how to answer that one. "I, um, we…we're—we, uh—"

Suddenly there was rustling from behind them, and they both turned in time to see a large cockroach headed for them. Macy screamed and jumped up. Kevin hopped up and kept himself in front of her.

"Ew, ew, ew!" Macy repeated as she and Kevin back up toward the apple tree. The giant bug kept coming toward them, and Kevin did the only thing he could think to do. He threw dirt at it.

The rocks were too big and would have hurt it, but the dirt could be clumped up and thrown with out causing too much damage. Kevin continued to throw the dirt clusters at the cockroach. It held the cockroach at bay long enough for Kevin and Macy to duck behind the trunk of the apple tree. Kevin didn't realize he'd had Macy pinned against the tree until he brought his gaze back to hers.

He held back a laugh at the look on her face. Her nose was scrunched up in disgust and her eyes were shut tight. "Is it gone?"

He smiled at her in amusement. "I think so."

Her shoulders relaxed and she opened her eyes. "Good. I hate roaches! They're creepy."

She gasped slightly when her eyes opened and met his. She hadn't been expecting him to be that close either.

He smirked at her. "Hi."

"H-hi," She stuttered.

Kevin had just begun to lean in when Macy suddenly wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his lips down on top of hers. He grinned against her lips before deepening the kiss. He could get used to this. Kissing Macy, that is. It was addicting and intoxicating.

Macy didn't know what was happening to her. She was falling for a man she knew practically nothing about. But how could she _not_ fall for him when he kept saving her and _kissing_ her. (Okay, so maybe this time she'd kissed him, but that was beside the point.) Not to mention he was so understanding and sweet.

He wasn't giving her any other options.

They pulled apart and Macy rested her forehead on his shoulder. Kevin smiled wrapped his arms around her waist. He held her for a moment before noticing how dark it had gotten and letting her go. The sun was going down.

"We probably need to make another tent," He told her reluctantly.

She pouted as he walked away. "You know, I was perfectly comfortable and now I'm not."

He laughed at the pout on her face. "Macy, if we don't get a tent up before dark we'll be out in the open all night long. Where more big bugs live."

Her eyes widened. "Right, tent. Let's build one."

Neither could keep from smiling as they assembled another "tent" out of leaves. This time it was stronger, and a little more hidden. Macy sighed happily as they settled in for the night. She stayed on her back and held Kevin's hand as she closed her eyes and went to sleep.

He smiled softly and watched her sleep. His smile faltered slightly as he thought about all the things she didn't know. He had no idea why he was keeping them from her. A part of him was afraid that she would treat him differently if she knew. He was also afraid that she would be so angry at him for keeping it from her that she would refuse to talk to him ever again.

She was going to find out sooner or later, and he just _knew_ he was going to be in a lot of trouble when she did.


	6. Chapter 6

Justifies the Beans

By angellwings

* * *

CHAPTER SIX

"_Everyone tells tiny lies. What's important, really, is the size!"_

_-Into the Woods, Act I, "Maybe They're Magic"

* * *

_

Stella stuck to the shadows and the corners of the ballroom. She wasn't there for herself. She was there to look out for Joe. That's all. If Vanessa tried anything Stella would be there to stop her.

"Hey."

Stella jumped and yelped. She spun around to find Joe smirking at her.

"If you were trying to hide then you failed."

"I—I wasn't—"

"I didn't think you were going to show at first," He said with a smile.

"I'm not here for you."

"You're not?" He asked with a smirk.

She huffed. "Okay, I am but not for the reasons you think."

"And what reasons are you actually here for?"

"I'm here to warn you," Stella told him as she made sure her mask was still in place. She'd almost forgotten Joe didn't know who she was.

"Warn me?" He asked in amusement. "Warn me about what?"

She sighed. "You don't know who I am, and there are some girls out there who are planning to use that against you."

"Is that all?" He asked. "I think I'd know an imposter if I saw one."

She rolled her eyes. "How? You have no idea who I am. I could be anyone."

"Fine, then we could solve this debate right now. Just tell me who you are."

Stella took a deep breath. "I can't do that."

"Why not?" He asked.

"Because I'm not who you think I am," She said as she looked down at her shoes. "You'll be disappointed."

Joe chuckled. "I doubt that."

"No, you will be," She told him. "I can tell by who you've been guessing so far."

He scoffed. "You should know, I'm terrible at guessing games. Stella doesn't even ask me to try anymore."

Stella felt a thrill run up her spine. "Stella?"

A warm smile spread across his face and his eyes seemed to twinkle. "She's a friend. A good friend."

"Are you sure?" Stella asked teasingly. "You seem awfully fond of her."

He sighed. "Some times I wonder, but then I think…I think she deserves better."

Stella gasped. "What?"

He shook his head. "Nothing, don't worry about it."

"Better?" Stella asked.

"Don't worry about it."

"No, I will worry about it," Stella said. "Have you told her about this?"

"Of course not."

"Then maybe you should. Maybe _she_ doesn't want _better_. Maybe she wants you."

"So, you agree that she deserves better?" He asked with a self deprecating smirk.

Stella glared at him. "I said no such thing."

"You think I should talk to her?" Joe asked. "Really?"

"If she's what you want then you've got to try," She told him with a small smile. "And now I've got to go."

"Wait," he said as he came to stand in front of her. "Don't go. Stay. Dance."

She sighed. "I can't."

"You can't do a lot of things, apparently," He pouted.

Her shoulders sagged in resignation. "Fine, one dance, but then I really have to go."

Joe nodded and quickly led her out to the dance floor. Meanwhile Nick was standing off to the side glaring daggers at Carl and Amy. He'd been her escort for the night. Carl! They'd danced nearly every dance together, and Nick could feel himself approaching his breaking point.

Finally he squared his shoulders and marched toward the couple. He tapped Carl's shoulder and didn't wait for acknowledgement before speaking to Amy.

"You're here with _him_? No offense, Carl."

Carl shrugged. "None taken. I get that a lot."

"Yes, because _he_ knows what he wants unlike _some_ people. Plus he has _yet_ to snap at me over his own frustrations," Amy explained coldly. "Besides, you have no right to criticize who I'm seen with. We're not-what did you call it?—courting."

Nick groaned. "But I was wrong!"

Amy's eyebrows rose. "Oh? About what exactly?"

"You plan on making this difficult, don't you?" Nick asked knowingly.

"I think we both know you deserve it. Go on, what were you wrong about?"

He gulped and desperately wished Carl wasn't witnessing this. "We _are_ courting. I think we have been from the very first moment we met."

Amy smiled slowly at him before turning to Carl. "You don't mind do you?"

Carl shook his head. "Of course not. Have fun."

Nick blinked. What? Carl wasn't very upset for someone who was trying to get in Amy's good graces.

Amy smirked at Nick's bewildered expression as they began to dance. "Carl brought me here to keep Tosh away. And partly to make you jealous. I blew up at him earlier today. I just sort of ended up ranting about you and last night and he was really understanding. That's all."

"You mean you weren't—"

"Definitely not," Amy chuckled. "Carl's nice, but, well, he's not you."

Nick smiled. "I know what you mean. I…missed you today."

"Me too," She said with a grin. "But, you know, I missed you. Not me. Ha."

Nick chuckled at her as her nerves worked their way to the surface. He pulled her closer and whispered into her ear. "You have nothing to be nervous about."

"Yes, I do," She said softly. "You may be used to this, Nick, but I'm not. This is all…so new to me. All of it. I don't know what to do with myself."

They stopped dancing and Nick removed his hand from hers to cup her face. He was very close and Amy could feel him getting closer, and suddenly his lips were on hers. Her breathing hitched. His hand that had been on her waist moved to the small of her back. When he pulled away he smirked at her. "When you don't know what to do with yourself…just do that."

She nodded slowly and spoke up in a stunned voice. "And that was?"

"That was kissing," Nick chuckled. "And I'm about to do it again."

Amy smiled softly as his lips found hers once again. The entire ballroom was staring at them, but she didn't care. She really liked kissing. It had to be her favorite new thing she'd participated in.

* * *

Kevin woke up with his arms around something warm. He was aware that he hadn't slept very long. Maybe an hour, two if he was lucky. His eyes fell on Macy (the thing his arms were around), and he was suddenly reminded why. Guilt. Guilt about lying to her. She rolled over and snuggled into his chest and Kevin's heart felt like it was in pain. How could he lie to her like this?

He sighed and played with a few strands of Macy's hair. He was going to have to tell her. Macy's eyes slowly blinked open and she blushed when she realized where she was.

"Good morning," Kevin told her with a soft smile.

"Morning," Macy said with a yawn. She moved to sit up, but Kevin stopped her.

"Not yet," He said. "Just lay back down for a few minutes, please?"

"But the suns out, we should be up—"

"Macy, I realize you're used to farm time, but we're not on the farm right now. We don't have to be plowing things before the break of dawn. We can take the day slowly," Kevin told her with a grin.

"I still can't tell what your family does for a living," She said as she reluctantly laid back down. "Your hands have calluses. Not many, but just enough to tell me you've done _some_ hard work so I thought maybe you were a farmer like me, but then you pull this." She laughed before she continued. "And it makes me think that you're a city boy or a member of the court or something. No one who lives where I live would dare be in bed after the sun's up. There's too much work to do."

"You'll find out soon enough," Kevin told her.

"Really?" Macy asked in surprise. "I was beginning to think you were avoiding talking about it."

"Let's just relax for a few more moments first," Kevin pleaded.

Macy nodded. "Deal."

They both layed there and enjoyed the silence. Kevin knew this would probably be their last peaceful moment because Macy would not take his news very well. He didn't know exactly how she would react, but he had a feeling any reaction was going to cause chaos. Once he was sure they could wait no longer to get up, he exhaled slowly.

"Okay, now we can go."

They both got out of their make shift tent and Macy smiled at the sunshine. "It's such a beautiful day. This would be the perfect day to be in my garden. There's sunshine, and a nice cool breeze."

"Macy—"

"What do you think we're going to find up here today?" She asked him. He saw something cloud her eyes and dampen her bright mood. "I suppose I should go home soon. My mother's probably worried sick. And I bet your family is too. Do we even remember which way the beanstalk is?"

"It's behind us to the south," Kevin answered immediately.

"Wow," Macy said in an impressed tone. "How do you know that?"

"I've been trained to hunt and track. A good sense of direction was sort of forced on me."

Macy's brow furrowed and she turned to Kevin as they continued to walk. "You seem to know a lot of things. How much do you know exactly?"

"My parents made sure my brothers and I were educated in several skills," Kevin said hesitantly. Now was the time to come clean.

"Really?" Macy asked. "You have time for all of that learning?"

"I…have time for lots of things at the moment, but that will change after my next birthday."

"Why? What's your next birthday?" Macy asked.

"My eighteenth. I'll have to start sitting in on meetings with my father."

"Meetings…so your father owns a business."

"Not exactly," Kevin answered as they pushed their way through the grass. It seemed to be getting thicker. "Macy, I'm—I'm—"

Macy suddenly stopped and her head tilted up toward the sky. "Woah. Kevin, look!"

She pointed up through a clearing of grass and he followed her finger. There was a huge towering castle in front of them. Huge: as in a thousand times larger than his own.

"You were right!" She yelled excitedly. "Giants!"

He swallowed thickly. "That's not exactly something I wanted to be right about."

"We have to go inside!" She exclaimed.

His eyes widened. "You really are crazy."

"Kev-in!" She whined. "It's an adventure!"

"Macy, all we've been having is adventures," He said with a small smile. Even while he was terrified of her she was adorable. "Could you focus on me for a second though? I'm trying to tell you something."

Her eyes widened. "Oh! Right, I'm sorry! You were saying?"

"Macy," he said slowly as he watched her gaze drift to the castle looming in front of them. "You keep asking me about my family, right?"

Suddenly her attention was completely on him. "Yes."

"I'm…well, I'm a prince."

Macy laughed. "Kevin, come on. Be serious."

"I'm serious. My father is King Thomas and my mother is Queen Sandy. I'm the oldest of four brothers, and one day in the future I'm—"

Macy gasped. "Wait, the crown prince! His name is-Kevin. You're—you're telling the truth, aren't you? You're a prince. Royalty."

He sighed in relief and nodded. He closed his eyes for a moment and was glad he'd gotten out the words finally. He felt Macy punch him in the arm. "OW! What was that?"

"You're a PRINCE!" She bellowed. "A _prince!_"

"So?" Kevin asked.

"So? So! You kissed me! You shouldn't have kissed me!"

"Why not?" He asked.

"Because I'm not a princess or even a member of the court or anything remotely close to royal!" Macy yelled. "You're supposed to marry one of _those_ girls. You can't just go around kissing farm girls!"

"I don't kiss farm _girls_," He sighed. "I kissed a farm _girl_. You! And I kissed you because I wanted to. I—I like you! And I wanted to kiss you! Is that so bad?"

"Yes! Because now I want something that I can't have!" Macy yelled as a frown settled on her normally happy face.

"Can't have?" Kevin asked in confusion. "No one said that you—"

The ground shook and Macy stumbled into Kevin cutting off his words. The shaking became more intense and more frequent. A massive foot stopped in front of them and they both looked up slowly. Kevin grabbed Macy and hid them both behind a clump of grass. The giant grumbled as he searched the grass, and Kevin thought he heard him say something about "constant insufferable chirping" before his hand brushed the grass they were hidden behind.

"Well, your _highness_," Macy sneered. "Now what?"

He turned to speak but her eyes widened in fear and she desperately shoved him to the ground. He looked up in time to see a large hand lifting Macy. The giant held her up to his eyes and squinted. "So you're the little one making all that noise. Let's find something to do with you, shall we?"

Kevin watched in horror as the giant walked off with Macy. He chased after them as quickly as he could. What had she been thinking? Why had she done that? She must have known what would happen!

Well, one thing was for sure. He wasn't leaving without Macy.


	7. Chapter 7

Justifies the Beans

By angellwings

* * *

CHAPTER SEVEN

"_But then what if he knew who you were when you know that you're not what he thinks that he wants? But then, what if you are what a prince would envision?"_

_-Into the Woods, Act I, "The Steps of the Palace"

* * *

_

Joe approached the wardrobe room the next morning to find Stella's wardrobe assistant staring at him in surprise.

"Your Highness," She said with a shaky voice. "Y-you don't have an appointment for today, do you?"

"An appointment?" He asked. "I always come by and talk to Stella. I usually don't need an appointment."

"Oh, but Stella isn't coming in today."

His eyes widened. "She's not? But she never misses work! What happened? Is she all right?"

"As far as I know, she's fine. Her aunt called this morning and said she wouldn't be in."

Joe stomped down the hall to the sitting room the royal family often used for their private moments. Frankie was there playing with his new ball. Joe paced and muttered worriedly. Stella _never_ missed work. She'd once told him someone would have to lock her up and throw away the key for her to miss work.

"Hey, can you go be crazy somewhere else? I'm playing here."

Joe looked up at Frankie and glared at him. "Stella's not here."

Frankie's eyes widened. "That's weird."

"I know! And I need to talk to her about something."

Frankie shrugged. "Just tell her at the ball tonight."

"What?" Joe asked in confusion. "Stella can't come to the ball. Her aunt won't let her."

"What are you talking about? You've been dancing with her every night," Frankie told Joe as if it were obvious.

"_What?_ When?"

"The girl with the mask—"

"That's not Stella."

"Yes, it is. I should know. I sent her the dress."

"You sent Stella a dress?" Joe asked his youngest brother in disbelief.

"I was sick of seeing you and her being all gooey and weird without either of you saying anything. I thought she was going to be at the ball and you two would work it out then, but then I found out she gave away her dress so I sent her one. You mean you didn't know it was her?"

Joe didn't answer him. He was all ready on his way to the stables to get his horse. He needed to talk to Stella now more than ever.

* * *

Amy's brow furrowed as Joe ran through the gardens to the stables. She turned to Nick. "Where's he going?"

Nick shrugged. "No idea. I never really know."

Amy laughed. "I see."

"He's definitely in a hurry though which means whatever it is has to do with Stella."

Amy smiled warmly and turned back to Nick. "He and Stella have a complicated relationship, don't they?"

Nick smirked. "That's an understatement."

He motioned to a nearby bench in front of a bed of lilacs, and she nodded. She let go of his arm for a split second to sit down, and Nick couldn't believe how the lack of contact affected him. He sat down next to her and felt a tingle in his arm when she looped her arm through his again.

Amy had never really been able to have contact like this. She was enjoying it. The most Tanta had ever done was play with her hair or pat her shoulder. Nick didn't seem to want to touch very many people but yet he'd never had a problem holding her hand or placing a hand on her back. Amy liked that he sincerely _wanted_ contact with her. It made her feel special and _safe_.

"This garden is so beautiful," She said with a smile as she admired the lilacs.

"It's one of my favorite parts of the castle," Nick told her.

"Growing up with a garden like this must have been wonderful. I always wanted a garden. Tanta planted one below my tower so that I could admire it when I looked down, but it wasn't nearly enough," Amy told him. "But this…this is breathtaking. Thank you for bringing me here."

He grinned at her in amusement. "You were here yesterday, weren't you? With Carl?"

"Yes, but…it feels different being here with you. Everything seems brighter."

"I know what you mean," Nick said as he brought his other hand over to cover the hand she'd rested on the inside of his arm.

"Nick?" Amy asked hesitantly. Sitting here with him was wonderful, but something was worrying her. She'd been here a few days now. Tanta had to be close to finding her.

"Hm?" He asked as his eyes met hers.

"Have you thought about what we're going to do when…"

"When what?" Nick asked curiously.

"When _she_ finds us?"

"She won't."

"Nick," Amy asked in a scolding tone. "She _will_. You know she will."

Nick sighed and squeezed her hand. "Can we just take it a day at a time and worry about that when it happens?"

"Just because you don't want to think about it doesn't mean we shouldn't plan for it," She told him. "You know that."

"I can promise you, Amy, that no matter what happens you're _not_ going back in that tower," Nick told her. "Isn't that enough?"

"No, Nick it's not because that doesn't guarantee me your safety. I'd rather be stuck in that tower for the rest of my life than have anything happen to you."

He sighed again. "I'd rather have something happen to me than know that you're stuck in that tower for all eternity."

She nodded. "Then we just have to work it out to where you're alive and I'm on the ground."

He grinned at her. "You make it sound so simple."

"It is simple. You don't pull any dumb heroics and I won't let her put me back in that tower," Amy said with a small smile.

Nick smiled at her and leaned forward to kiss her cheek gently. "Deal."

"I'm serious, though Nick. No heroics. I don't want her to make you disappear like she, apparently, made my father disappear."

"I'm not going to disappear," He told her comfortingly.

"You have to promise. Promise me now that you won't disappear," Amy said as she looked at him pleadingly.

He was surprised at the desperation in her voice and the tears that shone in her eyes. He cupped her face and pulled her close. "Amy, I'm not going anywhere. I promise. I'm always going to be right here. With you."

She nodded and her breathing slowed. She buried her head in his chest. "You don't _always_ have to be with me, but, you know, most of the time would be good."

He could hear the playful smirk in her voice and he laughed. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Really, Nick. No dumb heroics, promise?"

She could feel him tensing and wasn't surprised when he groaned in frustration. "What do you want me to do Amy? Just let her take you?"

"If it keeps you from getting yourself killed? Yes."

"I'm sorry, I can't do that."

She smiled softly and pulled away to look Nick in the eye. "I'm not saying you let her _keep_ me."

His brow furrowed. "What _are_ you saying?"

"I'm saying that I want you to take a step back and formulate a _smart_ plan. I don't want you winging it. Just…have a _strategy_. That's all I want. Promise?"

He stared at her thoughtfully for a moment before answering. "I promise. I don't like it, but I promise."

"You don't have to like it," she told him. "You just have to _do_ it."

He grinned at her and shook his head. "You are one strange girl."

"And don't you forget it," Amy said with a smirk and a wink.

"I don't think I could even if I wanted to," Nick said as he leaned closer. Amy smiled just before his lips touched hers. She wanted to savor every moment she had with Nick. She didn't know how many of them she had left.

* * *

Kevin finally made it inside the giant's castle. It took him forever to find a big enough hole in the back door. He could hear the snoring from the moment he entered. The giant was taking a nap. Now the question was: what did he do with Macy?

He walked into the room where the snoring was coming from and glanced around.

He spotted a small cage on top of the fireplace mantle and inside was a very unhappy looking Macy. Her arms were crossed over her chest and her brow was furrowed as she glared at the large sleeping giant. Kevin noticed her mouth was gagged with a torn piece of cloth.

He stared up the height of the mantle. How was he going to get up there? It was possible to climb it. He could see a few places where he could find some footholds, but it definitely wasn't completely safe.

Macy spotted him as he began to climb. Her eyes widened and she frantically shook her head at him. He ignored her. He'd been doing really well. He was halfway up and had yet to have any problems. He had to keep himself from looking down. Heights were not his strong suit neither was climbing for that matter. Nick had always been the one that was good at climbing.

He moved his foot to the next foothold but couldn't quite reach it, and once he did reach it he had trouble propelling himself upwards. At least when he'd been climbing the beanstalk it had _felt_ like a ladder. It was much easier to climb than this smooth, carved mantle. A muffled yelp came from Macy when he nearly slipped, and the sound seemed to make Kevin more determined to make it to the top.

When his hand finally reached the flat top of the mantle he sighed in relief. He pulled himself upward and then jogged the rest of the way to Macy. The cage had a very simple latch, and Kevin pushed the latch to the side and opened the door. Macy was glaring at him, and he was almost afraid to remove the gag. But he couldn't stand the idea of Macy being silenced and untied the gag. She hugged him tightly before pulling away and smacking him.

"Are you crazy?" She asked in a quiet whisper. "You could have fallen to your death!"

He quirked an eyebrow at her. "You didn't seem concerned with that when we were climbing the beanstalk."

"Yes, because I was with you and I wouldn't have let you miss a foothold! And because _then_ I had no idea that you were the _future king_. If I'd known that I wouldn't have egged you into coming."

He squinted at her. "Is that why you shoved me out of the way and let the giant get you?"

"Yes!" She yelled. Kevin shushed her when the giant stirred and her tone became quieter. "I can't be responsible for the death of the crown prince!"

"_What?_ So, to keep that from happening you sacrificed yourself to a giant? Macy, that's insane," Kevin told her with a sigh. The giant stirred again and Kevin felt panic rising in his chest. "We need to get out of here. We'll talk about this more later."

"Of course, your _highness_," She sneered.

Kevin glared at her, and hoped that told her how he felt about that particular title. Without another word they both started down. Kevin sighed in relief when his feet touched the floor. Macy foot slipped on the last foothold and she almost fell, but Kevin caught her before she hit the floor.

Their faces hovered over each other's for several moments. He was mad at Macy and frustrated with her, but still he couldn't stop himself from wanting to kiss her. This was no where near the right time or place, but he was seriously considering closing the distance between them. It looked as if Macy was considering it too before a sadness he'd never seen in her flashed across her eyes. She pried herself out of his arms and ran ahead.

Kevin quickly chased after her. He didn't understand it. Why was she acting so odd? He'd been prepared for a lot of reactions to his title, but he'd _never_ thought she'd be like _this._

Kevin stumbled when his foot caught on the corner of a chair. He hit the ground with a yelp, and the giant's eyes slowly opened. Macy gasped and came back for him. She helped Kevin up and then the two of them kept running. As they reached the edge of the room the giant spotted the empty cage.

That was the last time either Kevin or Macy looked back. They just kept running. The giant would no doubt be following them, and neither one of them wanted to know how close he was to catching up. They cold feel the ground shaking behind them so they knew the giant was close. Kevin took the lead and led the way back to the beanstalk.

Macy nearly cried out in relief when she spotted the leafy green top of the beanstalk poking out of the ground. Kevin started down first and Macy immediately followed him. Hopefully they would reach the ground before the giant caught up with them.

* * *

Joe tied his horse off to a post outside of Stella's aunt's boarding house. He'd only stopped once since he left the castle, and that was for an exceptional reason. (There was a very large beanstalk growing in the center of the town. He _had_ to stop.) He took the steps leading up to the building two at a time and knocked loudly on the door.

"Oh," Stella's aunt said in surprise when she saw him. "Your highness, I'm afraid Stella's not feeling well today."

Joe glared at her suspiciously. "I'd like to hear that from her if you don't mind."

"I'm afraid that would be a very bad idea. She might be contagious and we wouldn't want the royal family getting sick, now would we?" She asked in a sickeningly sweet tone.

"Ma'am, let me through. I'm here to see Stella, and I'm not leaving until I do."

The aunt glared at him analytically for a moment, and Joe sighed. "I can push past you or you can move out of my way. Either way I'll be getting through this door."

She narrowed her eyes at him angrily but stood aside. Joe mumbled a thank you before asking which room belonged to Stella.

"Turn the corner, first door on your right," the woman sighed. She handed him a key. "You'll need that."

Joe glared at her. "You locked her in her room?"

She glared right back. "I was protecting her."

"From what?" Joe asked angrily. He didn't bother waiting for an answer. He sprinted around the corner and unlocked the door. He knocked before opening it. "Stella?"

He found Stella staring at him with wide eyes. She was standing in front of something as if she were trying to hide it from his view, but he could see it. He recognized it too. The pink dress. The dress that belonged to his 'mystery girl'.

"Joe!" She yelled in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"You didn't come in to work today. I was worried," He told her. "It's a good thing too."

"I-I wasn't feeling well this morning."

Joe gave her a look that clearly said he wasn't convinced. "If that was the case I don't think your aunt would have locked your door."

"Joe…"

"Stella," He said as he stepped closer. "What's really going on here? And you can stop trying to hide the dress. I can see it."

"What?" She asked in surprise.

"I know, Stella. I know that you're the mystery girl. I should have figured it out sooner, but, well, you know me…sometimes I can be a tad bit—"

"Oblivious?" Stella asked him with a grin.

"I was going to say dense, but that works too. Anyway, today when you didn't show up I-I was really worried. I thought something terrible had happened to you, and I was telling all of this to Frankie and…well he ended up telling me you were the mystery girl."

"How did he know?" Stella asked in shock.

Joe chuckled. "Get this, _he_ sent you the dress."

Stella's eyes widened. "Frankie? Little Frankie? He sent me the dress?"

"He thought if you were at the ball then…"

"Then what?" Stella asked curiously.

"Something would happen between us."

There was silence for a moment before Joe spoke up again. "You never explained why you were locked in your room."

"She caught me coming home last night. Now I'm essentially under house arrest for breaking the rules," Stella sighed.

"Last night, I still can't believe…that means last night I was talking to _you_ about how I felt about _you_."

Stella blushed and nodded.

"I don't understand, Stella," Joe said with a sigh. "Why didn't you just come as yourself? Why bother with the mask?"

"I wanted to prove to you that I was a girl. I wanted you to see me without this vision of 'your friend Stella' getting in the way. But then after that I was afraid. Afraid that you would find out who I was and…laugh or scoff or something. I thought—"

"You thought I would be disappointed. I remember you saying that last night," Joe said thoughtfully. "But I'm not. I'm far from disappointed. I'm…relieved."

"You are?" Stella asked.

"Yes! Stella, you're so much better than any other girl I've ever met. Sometimes…I feel like you're so much better than me—"

"Stop," Stella said sternly. "You said that last night. Explain."

He sighed. "I'm a selfish coward who's never going to have anything more than the title I was born with. I-I don't deserve you. You should be with someone who's going to do great things and—"

"No."

"No?"

"No to all of what you just said. You're not a selfish coward. Sure, sometimes you have your selfish moments and maybe you don't speak up as often as you should, but that doesn't make you a selfish coward. That makes you human."

"But—"

"I'm not finished. What do you mean you're not going to do great things? You're going to help rule our home. I think that's pretty 'great', and yes you may have been born with your title but you were never happy with that. You've always wanted to earn it, to deserve it. And I think you do. You deserve all of it."

He smiled. "Even you?"

She smirked. "Even me."

Stella crossed the little bit of distance left between them. She wrapped her arms around Joe's neck, and his arms instinctively went around her waist. She pressed her lips to his softly and pulled away. She smirked and brought her arms down. Just as Stella expected Joe refused to let go of her waist.

"That's it?" He asked.

Stella chuckled. "I thought I'd leave that up to you."

His hands left her waist and cupped either side of her face. "Then we're not finished yet."

Joe brought his lips down to meet hers once again, but this kiss was more intense. Her hands worked their way up and rested on his chest, and his hands moved from her face to the small of her back. He pulled her as close as he could and deepened the kiss. Stella was fairly certain she was dreaming. She'd been wanting Joe to kiss her for the longest time but she never once thought it would actually happen.


	8. Chapter 8

Justifies the Beans

By angellwings

* * *

CHAPTER EIGHT

"_You scramble down and you look below. And the world you know begins to grow."_

_-Into the Woods, Act I, "Giants in the Sky"

* * *

_

Kevin touched the ground and helped Macy as she finished climbing down. They both looked around to find several townspeople staring at them. A small crowd had gathered to stare at the enormous beanstalk. The beanstalk began to shake and Macy yelped.

"I-I think he's climbing down!"

Kevin looked around desperately and finally saw someone who looked like they could help. It was a short blonde guy. "An axe. Do you know where to find an axe?"

The guy ran off and came back a split second later with an axe. Kevin started to chop as the blonde introduced himself to Macy.

"I'm Randolph," he told her. She smiled politely and shook his hand.

"Macy."

"Where did this beanstalk come from?" He asked.

"Um, well, a magic bean."

Kevin tried to focus on the chopping but Randolph was giving Macy a grin that clearly said he was interested in more than just the beanstalk. Kevin decided to tune them out. The faster he chopped the quicker they'd be safe, and the quicker he could get Macy away from this Randolph person.

Macy, for her part, was merely trying to be polite to Randolph. He was nice and kind of cute, but not really…

Her thoughts were interrupted as Kevin started chopping with more force. She gulped and tried not to stare, but how could she not? She could see all of his muscles and…he was sweating. His curls were starting to stick to his forehead. She tilted her head as she watched Kevin chop down the beanstalk.

"Macy?" Randolph asked.

Her head suddenly snapped in his direction. "Oh! I'm sorry. What were you saying?"

"I was asking if you were from around here."

"Oh, um no. I live in a farming village about an hour away."

Her eyes landed on Kevin again as Randolph started talking. She wanted to be polite. She really did. Especially since he was probably the kind of guy Macy would end up with. As much as she wanted Kevin she knew he was not available to her. Which was why thinking back on those kisses made her so mad. Now, she would never be happy with whoever she ended up with because she would always be comparing them to Kevin. Why did he have to be a prince? Why couldn't he be something normal?

She suddenly heard creaking and cracking and looked up to see the stalk falling quickly. While everyone was distracted by the falling Kevin grabbed Macy's hand and pulled her away.

"Where are we going?" She demanded.

He didn't answer her, and Macy stopped and pulled her hand out of his. He sighed and turned to her. "We're going to the castle."

"Why?"

"We have to tell my father what's happened so he can send out guards to inspect the damages."

"But why do I have to come?"

"We still have to finish that talk we started earlier. I have some things I want to say to you," He said sternly. He sounded mad. What did he have to be mad about? It's not like _she_ had kept anything from him.

She huffed as he continued to pull her toward the castle.

* * *

The ball was lovely, but Amy didn't want to be in a crowded room tonight. She didn't want everyone staring at her. She understood why they stared. She came out of no where, but it wasn't pleasant to have so many eyes watching her. She'd persuaded Nick to come out to the gardens where they could be alone.

They walked arm and arm through the dimly lit pathways into a clearing that was flooded with moonlight. There was a large fountain in the middle. She and Nick stopped to admire the fountain and Nick entwined his fingers with hers. They walked hand in hand around the fountain. Neither said a word.

Amy thought it was wonderful that they could just enjoy the atmosphere and each other's company with out feeling the pressure to have a conversation.

Amy turned to express this to Nick but felt a sudden sharp pull at her hair. She stumbled backwards and her hand was ripped from Nick's as an arm wrapped around her neck.

"Thought you could runaway, did you?"

Amy shivered at the sound of the voice. It was Tanta. Nick glared at the woman holding Amy. He couldn't see her. She was still hidden in the shadows. His hand rested on the hilt of his sword. "Let her go."

"I'm afraid I can't do that, your highness. She belonged to me before she ever belonged to you. One might even say that you stole her from me."

"A sane person would say that he rescued me from you," Amy said bitingly.

"Amy," Nick said slowly as Tanta tighted her grip on Amy's neck. "You made me promise not to do anything stupid and you need to do the same. Don't make things worse."

Amy swallowed thickly. He was right. If she wanted to survive this she needed to keep her mouth shut.

"Smart girl," Tanta cooed. "Making your man agree not fight me impulsively. Come, child, let's get out of here. Get you home to your tower."

Tanta took a step forward into the light and Nick was momentarily stunned. He'd expected an old hag, but what he saw was a beautiful woman who appeared to be the same age as his mother. Nick quickly recovered and made a move toward them, but Tanta pulled a dagger from within the folds of her skirt.

She pressed it to Amys' throat. "Stay back, boy. I don't think you want to carry the weight of her death." Tanta leaned closer to Amy's ear to whisper. "And no tricks from you, missy. Or Prince-y here joins your father."

Nick's jaw tensed as he tried to think of what to do. He was still flipping through ideas in his head when Amy and Tanta vanished in a puff of smoke. He ran to the spot where they had been standing and cursed. He turned and ran for the stables. He knew Amy wanted him to have a plan, but he needed to act fast.

He hopped on his horse and rode off toward the castle gates. He stopped when he heard someone calling out to him.

"Nick!"

He turned to see Joe and Stella approaching on Joe's horse. "Where are you going?"

"Guys?"

Both Nick and Joe whipped around to find Kevin approaching from the direction of the gate dragging a farm girl behind him and holding an axe in the other hand.

"Kevin?" Joe asked. "Where have you been?"

Nick groaned. "I don't have time for this. Amy's gone."

"What?" Stella asked loudly.

"The witch found her, and took her. Now I'm going after her," Nick explained.

"Who's Amy?" Kevin asked.

"The girl Nick's in love with," Joe answered before looking to the farm girl. "Who's that?"

"Macy. She's Macy."

Nick rolled his eyes and impatiently rode off. Joe yelled after him. "You can't fight a witch all on your own, Nick!"

Joe sighed, and hopped off his horse. He helped Stella down and gave her an apologetic glance. "I've got to follow him."

She nodded. "I know. Be careful."

Kevin pushed Macy toward Stella. "Stella, keep Macy here."

"What?" Macy asked with a glare. "Excuse me?"

"We need to talk, but right now I have to help my brother. Please, just stay here with Stella until I get back," Kevin begged.

Macy huffed, but nodded. "Fine. But…"

"But what?" He asked eagerly.

"If I wait here, and then you die…I'm not going to be happy."

"Is that your way of telling me to be careful?" He asked with a small smile.

Her glare softened and she shrugged. "You can take it however you want to take it."

Kevin quickly kissed her cheek. "I'll be back. I promise."

He ran off to fetch his horse and then he and Joe quickly headed in the direction Nick had gone.

"So, Macy, is it?" Stella asked with a smile. "How do you feel about make overs?"

"What's a make over?" Macy asked cluelessly.

Stella grinned. "Follow me."

* * *

Kevin and Joe finally caught up with Nick. Joe tossed him a coiled up rope.

Nick caught it and stared at his brother in confusion. "Why did you just throw a rope at me?"

"Because, your girl lives in a tower right? We'll have to get up there some how."

"This one rope," Nick said slowly. "Isn't going to cut it."

"That's why we grabbed four before we left," Kevin told him.

"You guys don't have to come," Nick told them as their horses picked up speed again.

"Yeah, we do," Kevin told him. "We're your brothers, and besides I don't think you'd do much good saving this Amy person if you died. That might even be considered failing, actually. And we know how much you hate to fail…at anything."

"And, you know, I'd really hate to be Kevin's only advisor. I'd pretty much destroy our own kingdom," Joe told him with a nod.

"This is true," Nick said as he nodded his agreement.

* * *

Amy didn't know where Tanta had disappeared to. One minute she was in the room shackling Amy's ankle to a chain, and the next she was gone. Tanta wanted to make certain Amy couldn't escape this time. Amy tugged at the chain and then stared at where it connected to the wall sadly. She wanted out of here. She wanted to go back to Nick.

The chain had enough give to let her walk around the room. She could still look out her window. She just couldn't climb out of it. She sighed and walked toward her window. Tanta had unbraided her hair so it trailed behind her like the train of a dress as she walked. Suddenly a rope shot into the room through the window. And Amy jumped. She picked it up and looked out the window.

Her eyes widened and she smiled brightly when she spotted Nick and Joe and someone else at the bottom of her tower. She waved and then quickly set about finding something to anchor the rope to. Finally she spotted a tree branch on the other side of her room. There was a tree that was growing into her tower and the branch cut right through her room. She wrapped the rope around and tightened it securely before leaning out the window and giving them all a thumbs up.

She watched nervously as they climbed and prayed that Tanta didn't show back up anytime soon. As Nick reached the top Amy backed away from the window to give him room to climb in. She hugged him tightly as soon as his feet hit the floor.

"Are you all right?" He asked as he gently grabbed her chin and angled her face in the light. She smiled softly as he inspected her for bruises or cuts.

"You came," She said happily.

He looked at her as if she were crazy. "Of course I came. I told you. You're not going to be stuck in this tower ever again."

Joe and the other one climbed in and smiled at her. She waved to Joe and he nodded. The other one reached forward and shook her hand excitedly.

"Hi, I'm Kevin. The oldest. Great to meet you, Amy. Hope you don't mind if we help him save you," Kevin said pleasantly with a nod.

Amy chuckled. "No, I don't mind at all, and it's great to meet you as well, Kevin."

Kevin nodded and turned to Nick. "For the record, I approve."

Nick shook his head looked down at the floor in embarrassment. "Thank you, Kevin. I'm so glad."

"This is fun and all," Joe said frantically. "But don't you think we should get out of here before a certain witch gets back?"

Nick nodded. "Let's go."

"I can't," Amy told him as she shook her foot. The chain rattled and Nick's eyes followed it to the wall. Nick glared at the iron shackle around Amy's ankle. He _really_ didn't like this Tanta woman.

"And we can't either," Joe said fearfully.

"Why's that?" Nick asked.

"The rope is gone."

Kevin's brow furrowed, "Did it fall?"

"No, it's just gone."

"You mean it vanished?" Nick asked worriedly. "It's no where to be found?"

Amy sucked in a breath. "Tanta, she knows you're here."

The air in the room suddenly felt thicker like someone else had entered, and they all turned toward the shadowy corner behind Amy's bed to find the outline of a figure.

A dark chuckle sounded from the corner. "I expected one prince, not three. Doesn't matter, you'll all be wonderful additions to my collection."

She stepped into the light and Nick spotted the key to Amy's shackle on a chain around her wrist. He was going to get her out of here. All he was worried about was getting down from this ridiculous tower. He had discussed with his brothers what they would do if the witch decided to make an appearance. They had a plan. He'd promised Amy he would have a plan and he did. Too bad this plan included a large amount of risk.

First though, Nick needed that key. Nick suddenly swung his sword at Tanta's wrist. He got lucky. The sword just barely sliced the chain and the key clattered to the floor. Amy's eyes widened when she saw it and she placed her free foot on top of it and dragged it to where she could reach it.

Now for the rest of their plan. Nick's wild swing was probably enough to get them started.

"I _will_ be leaving here with Amy. I just wanted you to know that," Nick told the woman seriously. "You won't be keeping her here anymore."

The witch glared at him. That did it apparently. She started firing spells left and right, and just barely missed them each time. Amy had turned away from the battle and refused to watch. There had been too many close calls for her liking. Nick neared Amy's vanity table and picked up the small mirror he saw there. As the witch fired yet another spell at him Nick held up the mirror. The spell bounced off of it and hit the witch in the chest. She screamed and disappeared in a single green light. From where she sat holding the key Amy opened one eye.

"Wh-what happened? Is everyone still here?"

"Not everyone," Nick grinned as he walked over to her.

He took the key from her hands and unlocked the shackle. Amy stood and launched herself at Nick. "That was a _very_ dangerous plan."

He smirked as his arms wrapped around her. "All you said was that I had to have a plan. You didn't say it had to be a _safe_ plan."

"Well, I thought that was implied."

"So," Kevin asked as he cleared his throat. "How do we plan on getting down?"

Amy bit her bottom lip. "I've got an idea."

The guys watched with curiosity as she approached her vanity table and pulled out a pair of scissors. Nick crossed the room to her quickly.

"What are you doing?" He asked urgently.

"I'm getting us out of here."

"Amy," He said softly. "Your hair—"

"Can always grow back."

Without another word she cut across her hair. What was left fell just above her shoulders. She tied the remaining hair around the branch where the rope had been and dropped it out of the window.

"There," She said with a shaky sigh. "A rope."

"So, we're actually going to be climbing down your hair?" Joe asked. "Huh. Never thought I'd ask that question."

"Yes," Amy told him. "We're climbing down my hair."

Kevin nodded and smiled at her. "Thanks."

She swallowed thickly. "It will grow back, and it was really inconvenient having hair that long anyway."

She suddenly felt Nick's warm breath on her neck as he whispered in her ear. "Everything will be fine, Amy. I promise."

She nodded and tried not to cry. She felt so stupid. She was crying over her hair.

"Why did you do it?" He asked as he pulled back to see her face.

She took a deep breath. "I want out of here. I—I want to be with you."

"But you said that you would never cut your hair," Nick reminded her. He was completely shocked. He'd heard her when she told Stella she'd never cut her hair. She meant it.

"Then I lied," Amy told him. "I'd cut again if I could. As long as it meant I could be with you."

His breath caught in his throat, and he brought a hand up to play with some strands of her short hair. He brought his lips to hers and kissed her slowly. She'd sacrificed something very important to her…for him. He pulled back and smiled warmly at her.

"Hey! Lovebirds! I sort of have something important I have to do," Kevin told them from the window as he prepared to climb down. "Can we go now?"

Nick glared at his brother before turning to Amy. He took her hand and kissed the back of it. "C'mon, let's go home."

She smiled brightly at him and nodded. "I'd like that."


	9. Chapter 9

Justifies the Beans

By angellwings

* * *

CHAPTER NINE

"_And I know things now-many valuable things-that I hadn't known before." _

_-Into the Woods, Act I, "I Know Things Now"

* * *

_

They all raced home, but Kevin stopped when something strange caught his attention.

"Kev!" Nick called. "What are you doing?"

"Hold on!" Kevin said as he backtracked. He caught up with the old man he'd passed. He was leading a cow. A white, thin, sickly looking cow. "Excuse me, sir?"

"Yes?" The man said as he stopped.

"That cow, where did you get it?"

"I traded for it at the market, why?"

Kevin quickly hopped off his horse. "Do you mind if I take a look?"

"At my cow?" The man asked strangely.

"I just need to check one thing."

"Fine," the man sighed. "Go ahead."

Kevin gently moved the cow's ear and smiled brightly at what he found. A medium sized black spot. This was Macy's cow. The cow she wanted back more than anything else in the world. "Sir, how much do you want for this cow?"

"What?" The man asked with a furrowed brow.

"How much do you want for this cow?" Kevin repeated.

* * *

The group returned to the castle and put away their horses in the barn. Amy watched as Kevin put away the small cow in a separate stall.

"So, your friend Macy lost her cow and you found it for her?" She asked.

Kevin nodded. "This is Ellie. Macy's favorite, well, pet, I guess."

Amy grinned at him. "You love her, don't you?"

"M-macy?"

Amy rolled her eyes. "No, Ellie. Of course, Macy."

Nick laughed. "Wow, you _might_ be spending a little too much time with me."

Amy and Nick shared a smile before she turned back to Kevin. "So, do you love her?"

Kevin sighed. "Yes."

"But?" Amy asked knowingly.

"She's all hung up on the fact that I'm a prince. She's been mad at me since she found out, and I thought it was just because I kept it from her, but now…I think it's something else."

Amy nodded. "Well, you _are_ a prince."

"Why do people keep saying that?" Kevin asked. "I know I'm a prince."

Joe shook his head at Kevin. "People say that because the general belief is that we're supposed to marry another royal or a member of the court. You know that."

"So, what are you guys saying? That Macy doesn't think anything can happen because I'm a prince?" Kevin asked.

Nick nodded. "That's exactly what we're saying."

Amy patted Kevin's shoulder. "She's probably afraid she's going to end up with a broken heart."

"So then what do I do?" Kevin asked.

"You talk to her," Nick told him. "Let her know that our family is a little different when it comes to relationships."

Amy's brow furrowed. "Different?"

Nick smiled at her. "I didn't tell you? Our parents decided to let us marry for love. Not status."

Amy blushed. "No, you did not tell me this."

Nick took Amy's hand and led her toward the castle. Before they left the barn they turned and wished Kevin good luck.

Joe put a hand on Kevin's shoulder. "You ready to go find Stella and Macy?"

Kevin nodded. "As I'll ever be. Do we know where they are?"

Joe laughed. "You left Stella alone with a girl wearing a battered and torn scrap of a dress. Where do you think they are?"

Kevin smirked and followed Joe to the wardrobe room. As they approached the room Kevin suddenly felt nervous. What if everyone was wrong? What if Macy wasn't scared of a broken heart? What if she just hated him? Joe knocked on the door and Stella immediately answered. She hugged Joe and kissed him quickly.

"How did it go? How's Amy?"

"We're all safe. Amy's hair is a lot shorter, but other than that she's fine," Joe told her.

"She cut her hair?" Stella asked in shock.

Kevin nodded. "We used it as a rope to get down from the tower."

"I can't believe that," Stella told them. "She was so attached to it."

Joe laughed. "Obviously, she's not any more. Literally."

Stella rolled her eyes and smacked Joe's shoulder. "Ow."

"Where's Macy?" Kevin asked.

Stella grinned at him. "About Macy, you plan on keeping her around, right? Cause I think I found my new best friend. She's just so adorable, and completely unlike me. Not that I'm not adorable because I am. Right Joe?"

"Yes, absolutely adorable," Joe said immediately.

Kevin's eyes widened and he smirked. "I see she's got you trained all ready, huh?"

"Don't mock," Joe said with a glare.

Kevin stifled a chuckle.

"So?" Stella asked as she looked at Kevin expectantly.

"So…what?"

"Do you plan on keeping Macy around?"

Kevin nodded. "I do, but I think that's ultimately up to her."

Stella smiled knowingly. "Oh, I think she'll stay as long as you ask her to. She's just inside. She's practicing walking in the dress I gave her." Stella grabbed Joe's arm and led him away. "Let's go see what's going on at the ball, shall we?"

Kevin stepped further into the room and spotted Macy walking back and forth in front of a large mirror. He smiled softly and leaned against the nearest wall. She looked up and froze when she spotted him in the mirror. She gasped and bit her lip.

"You're back." She said quietly as she looked down at her light blue dress nervously.

"You look beautiful," Kevin told her as he stepped closer. "But, then again, I've always thought that."

Macy blushed. "I'm not sure I look like I belong in it."

"You do."

He was certain of that. She belonged in that dress and she belonged in this castle…with him.

"Y-you wanted to talk?" Macy asked as she hesitantly looked back up at him.

He nodded. "Let's go for a walk."

He extended his arm and Macy wondered how she hadn't figured out who he was sooner. He was clearly royalty. She should have seen that from the beginning. Seeing him here in this castle being so natural and easy only drove that home. He was a prince. The son of the king and queen.

And she was the daughter of a farmer. She gulped and accepted the arm, and they walked in silence.

"Where are we going?" Macy asked curiously.

"To the barn. I found something that I thought you might want," Kevin told her happily.

They reached the barn and Kevin led her inside past the horses to a stall in the back. He opened the door of the stall and ushered her inside. She gasped at what she saw.

"Ellie!" she exclaimed as she reached forward and petted the animal. She glanced behind her ear to see the spot and then turned to Kevin. "You found her! How?"

"Rode past an old man leading her along on the way back."

"And he just gave her to you?" Macy asked suspiciously.

"Ah, no. It required a trade."

"How much?" Macy asked sternly. "How much did you give him."

Kevin blushed. "It's not important, really. What _is_ important is that you have her back."

Macy knew what that meant. That meant he'd paid that man a lot of money for her cow. Probably a lot more than Ellie was worth to a more practical person. "Kevin…"

"Just the little bit of money I had on me and…"

"And?" Macy asked when she realized he wasn't finished.

"My sword."

"Kevin!" She scolded. "Your sword?"

"I can get another one," He said quickly. "Really, it's no problem you needed Ellie back. She's not replaceable. A sword is."

Macy wrapped her arms around him tightly and kissed his cheek. Oh yes, giving up his sword had been completely worth it. He wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Kevin, you really shouldn't have done that. I mean thank you. Really, thank you so much, but…"

"Macy, it's all ready been done," Kevin said with a smile. "Just enjoy it."

She nodded and rested her head on his shoulder. "Why did you do it?"

"I all ready told you. You need her."

Macy sighed. "You know what I mean. Why did you do this for me?"

Kevin pulled back slightly and lifted her chin so that she could look at him. "Because I—I love you."

Macy smiled softly at him. "You do?"

"I do."

"But you're a—"

"Prince, I know."

"You should find a princess or…something."

"Macy, there's something else about my family that I haven't told you."

Macy felt panic rise in her chest. Did his family all ready hate her? She hadn't even met them! "What?"

"Our parents are different than most royalty."

Her brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"They want us to marry people we love not people we merely _like_," Kevin told her. "If we fall in love with a princess then sure that's great, but if I were to, say, fall in love with a farmer's daughter they'd be just as happy."

"Really?" She asked him with a bright smile.

"Really," He nodded.

She swallowed thickly. "So then you and I could—"

He smiled. "We could."

Kevin stumbled to catch his balance as Macy threw herself at him. Her lips covered his and her hands traveled up his shoulders into her hair. He leaned against the wall of the barn and wrapped his arms tighter around her waist. Macy pulled back and smiled at him.

"I love you, too," She said with a large smile.

"Good," He said as he dipped his head down to capture her lips again. This kiss was quick and soft yet it felt slow. It felt like Kevin knew he had all the time in the world to kiss her. He pulled back and smirked at her. "That will make the wedding less awkward."

Macy's mouth dropped open, "The what?"

As Kevin leaned forward to kiss her again the world went black.

* * *

"Macy? Wake up. Macy?"

Her eyes fluttered open to find her head on someone's shoulder. She heard a chuckle and then felt the arm around her shoulders shake her softly.

"The movie's over, Mace. Time to get up."

"What?" She asked as she sat up and looked at the voice. Her vision cleared and she jumped at the sight of Kevin's smiling face.

A dream. It had all been a dream. She blushed as she remembered the last scene in her dream. She'd been kissing Kevin, and he'd…proposed?

Oh God, this was awkward. So awkward.

"You slept through the movie," Kevin grinned.

"Oh," Macy said as she cleared her throat and tried to stop herself from blushing.

"Macy?" Stella asked. "Are you okay?"

"I—I, um, no," Macy answered.

"Why? What happened?" Kevin asked in concern.

"I—you—Stella," Macy took a deep breath. "I had a dream. A very odd dream."

"Uh oh," Stella chuckled. "Macy's dreams tend to be very detailed…and intense."

"What happened?" Nick asked curiously.

"You saved Amy from a witch who locked her in a tower."

Nick grinned. "Amy?"

"Yes, Amy. The girl you've _yet_ to ask out again even though she told you to. You should probably do that." Macy said as she turned to Joe and Stella. "And Stella was Cinderella only Joe knew her all along and it took him entirely too long to figure it out."

"Anything else?" Joe asked in amusement.

Macy blushed. "Nope, no. Nothing else."

Stella glared at her suspiciously. "Lies."

"Uh, I'm…gonna go get some water. Be right back," Macy said as she urgently stood up and jogged to the kitchen. No one needed to know that she had dreamed about kissing Kevin…or being in love with Kevin.

She grabbed a bottle of water out of the Lucas's fridge, and then shut the door to find Kevin standing on the other side of it. She jumped and yelped. Kevin chuckled at her.

"A little jumpy are we?"

She gulped. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"So," Kevin said casually. "I wasn't in your dream?"

Macy cleared her throat nervously. "No."

"No I was or no I wasn't?"

"No, you…were."

"I was?" Kevin asked excitedly. "What happened?"

"You, um, climbed a beanstalk."

"So, I was Jack?"

"…no."

"Then who was I?"

"You were a prince."

"A prince who climbed a beanstalk? I don't know that story," Kevin told her. "So there wasn't a Jack?"

Macy sighed. "I-I was Jack."

"Really?" Kevin smiled. "So we climbed the beanstalk together?"

Macy nodded, but said nothing and Kevin gave her an odd look.

"Are you okay?"

"No, no I'm not okay! I just had a very intense dream where you and I climbed a beanstalk and—and we, um, kissed and then you saved me from the giant and then we went home and you bought me a cow and then we kissed again and then you—you…"

Kevin smirked at her. "Then I what?"

"You, um, proposed. I think…I never got clarification on that one."

"And this weirds you out because…"

"Well, we-" She cut herself off and groaned her inability to speak. "In real life _we_ are not a 'we', and in my dream we were definitely a 'we'. And then I wake up and my head is on your shoulder and you're all adorable and—and you make me wish we were actually a 'we'!"

He blinked in surprise before a slow smirk spread across his face. "I do?"

"Oh no, I said that out loud, didn't I?"

Kevin stepped closer and took the water bottle out of her hand. "Yes, you did."

"And you heard it. You actually heard it. You were right here listening to me say it. Awesome, wonderful, great even…"

Kevin smirked at her as she rambled and set the water bottle down on the counter beside of them. "Macy?"

"Yeah…"

"Stop talking."

"Why?" She asked worriedly.

"Because I want to kiss you, and it might make it a little easier for me if you weren't talking."

"Right—wait. What?"

Kevin answered her by leaning forward and kissing her lips gently. She froze in shock before relaxing and letting her arms rest on his chest. As soon as she responded he pulled her closer and deepened the kiss. His arms were wrapped around her and both were placed on her back. Macy definitely thought this kiss was better than any kiss she could have ever dreamed. It was real. All of it. Her hands traveled up his chest past his shoulders and into his curls just to remind herself that he was actually there. Kevin pulled away from her and she whined. He chuckled and she blushed.

"I _am_ awake right?" Macy asked softly.

"You're definitely awake," He told her with a smile.

"Then you really just kissed me?"

"Yes."

"…why?"

"Because I think—no, I know—that I like you, and I thought that since you had that dream you liked me too but if I was wrong—"

"You weren't wrong," She said hastily. "You were one hundred percent correct, actually."

"Good," He said with a bright smile. "Because I really would like to kiss you more often."

* * *

"_If the end is right it justifies the beans!"_

_-Into the Woods, Act I, "Maybe They're Magic"_


End file.
